Harry Potter: Brother of James
by fallingfireflies
Summary: Time-Travel AU (very much AU! I had to switch things for my convenience) - Harry is contacted by Fate and it is decided that too many lives were lost. To fix this, Harry is sent back as the twin brother of James Potter to live a normal life and help save those he loves along the way. SLASH warning!
1. Chapter 1

So, I guess I'm starting a new story. This is one of those "Harry goes back in time" stories only it's not because he's encouraged to change the future. He's gonna be the fifth Marauder and will be much more subdued than James and Sirius. Also, Harry is James's twin so that's pretty rad.

As usual, this is not mine. This story WILL be slash though I'm not sure yet who Harry will end up with - right now the obvious choices are Sirius or Remus. Which pairing would you prefer? Also, I'm going to need Harry's animagus form and name, but that won't be for many more chapters (unfortunately).

Tell me what you think! This is obviously only the first chapter - a kinda pre-chapter, if you will - and there isn't much in here. The second chapter is about half done. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about the whole 'gold string of fate' thing yet, so I'll take your opinions on that, too. It'll be a minor roll in this story; it's only there to add my own little touch.

Anyways, I hope it's okay!

* * *

Harry stared at the ceiling, breathing rapidly. _It was just a dream_ was the mantra echoing over and over in his head. Yet he knew it wasn't a dream – it was memories.

He kept seeing the deaths on repeat – the green light flashed continuously. The harshly shouted "_kill the spare_" was but a whisper compared to the other noises. The yells and the screams were deafening. Harry could hear his own voice yelling out – "_Sirius! SIRIUS!_"

Harry saw the moments flash by. He saw the blurry almost-memory of when he was only fifteen months old and his parents died for him. He saw Cedric being hit by the killing curse from Wormtail. He saw Sirius being stunned by Bellatrix and disappearing into the veil.

The images flashed by under eyelids and Harry cried out in frustration. He should have _saved_ them. Is that not who he is: the savior? Then why didn't he save all of those people?

All of the young boys and girls he saw being raped and murdered via the connection in his scar – why didn't he save them?

All of the men and women being tortured to insanity or killed in horrid ways – why did he sit back and do nothing?

All of the muggles – it wasn't even their war! Those were innocent lives that he _should have saved_.

And everyone else… Remus, Tonks, Fred, Snape, Dumbledore, Dobby, Colin, Moody, Hedwig…

They're all gone. They could still be alive but Harry failed them.

He should have studied occlumency harder. He should have acted sooner. He should have found a way to train to get better. He should've walked to the forest quicker and died sooner. Or maybe he should have just never been born. Yes, if the prophesy was invalid then lives could have been saved. If there was no prophesy, anyone could have killed Voldemort – which really would have been easier than the whole "_either must die at the hand of the other_" thing.

If he could only change things… fix them… save them…

It was during this thought that a voice broke through and Harry jumped, startled.

_I am sorry, young wizard_.

Harry looked around to find someone, anyone, but his room was empty. "Who are you?" He asked, while feeling absolutely ridiculous.

_I am many things. I am what recently happened. I am what will occur. I am second chances and new belief. I am the truth. You may call me Fate._

Harry frowned and tried to focus on the voice; it was both nowhere and everywhere. It was in his head yet stretched along the walls. "Fate? Are you responsible for prophesies?" He could swear he heard a laugh at that, but it sounded sad and forlorn.

_Yes and no, young wizard. I cause them to be made, but I do not make them. I am the reason for them, but I cannot reason with them. I have never interfered with how they play out: until now._

Here Harry was alarmed. "Now? Why?" His voice turned bitter. "I fulfilled it, didn't I? Moldy is dead, now everyone can celebrate. Whoop-di-do, Hallelujah, Happy Holidays." There was another laugh here but it seemed more amused than anything.

_Yes, you are right, but I know what you were thinking just moments before._

Harry thought back to the clips of death he saw and immediately began to feel guilty again.

_Young wizard, do not be unhappy. I and those around me have come to a decision. Too much went wrong and too many lives were lost – not by your fault._

A scoff and a disbelieving eye roll later, the voice continued.

_We believe there were unnecessary deaths and have decided to change things. You will help us with that._

Harry sat straight up. "Me?! Why? I've already been involved in your little game of life. My future was decided for me before I was even born – why does it have to continue?"

_Because I am giving you a unique opportunity: I am allowing you to not be the Savior._

Harry calmed down. As much as he hated playing someone's game, he possible hated being the Boy-Who-Lived even more. "What do you mean?"

_I propose you go back in time and grow up as Harry Potter: twin brother to James Potter. You will be raised in a loving home and have friends and parties. You will meet your parents and have a relationship with them – just not the same one you have now. Your father will be your brother and your mother will be your friend. You will keep your knowledge and can use that to change the path the world took. You can tell people of the horcruxes and have them be taken care of sooner. You can save the lives of those you care about._

Harry was speechless. Meet his parents? Get to know the Marauders? Stop people he loves from being killed? Why wouldn't he do it? "What's the catch?" He asked, for he knew there must be something.

_Once you become Harry Potter, twin to James, you cannot come back. Should Lily and James still get together and have a child, you will not be him. You are a completely different person. And, should the world end up worse than it is now, there are no third chances. This is it. Whatever happens is up to you._

Harry hummed. It was pretty much perfect! "How do I do it?" Another laugh resounded and the voice rang out.

_Just say that you accept_.

"I accept." A gold strand appeared and wrapped around Harry's pinky finger before disappearing. "What was that?"

_It was like the red string of fate, young wizard, only gold and it serves a different purpose – one that you shall not yet know._

Harry frowned as the world began to spin. "What? You're going to keep something from me? I thought I was done with people doing that!" A light-hearted and joyful laugh filled the room.

_Good luck, young wizard, though I am not sure you'll need it._

And with that, Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Savior of the Wizarding World, was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, first real chapter of this (I'm calling it chapter two anyways). I wanted to get Harry and James' bond going. Also, I love Sirius and don't think Sirius and James would first meet on the train. Since they're both purebloods, I think they would have met sooner.

I always feel awkward when reading one of these time-travel fics and Harry just stares at his father/godfather and they're like 'dude, you okay?' so I didn't do that here.

NOTE: I completely disregarded the Black family tree so ignore the canon version. If I end up putting Harry and Sirius together, now I won't feel as weird since in canon they're so closely related. Here, they are merely really distant relatives.

DISCLAIMER: not mine. By the way, do you know of any good puns? On a different note, for the next few chapters I will continue asking for an animagus form and name for Harry and who he ends up with. He could end up with someone other than Sirius or Remus if you'd prefer, but I question if I'd be able to write it well enough. I don't think I could.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

Harry Potter was watching as he grew up. Kind of.

He was seeing twins James and Harry Potter grow up and were as close as brothers could be. He was receiving the memories he was watching through the years.

He watched as James and Harry ran through halls at night and talked with Professor McGonagall and played small tricks like moving everything around. Harry saw James break his arm from a fall from his broom. He saw as Dorea Potter – their mother – healed him in minutes.

He watched as Harry grew up in a home where he was loved and it was _amazing_. Because damn it, _this is his new life_. It was strange to see his father, but Harry was able to ignore it and focus on the fact that this was not his father anymore but his _brother_… which meant they would spend even more time together!

Harry saw all of the parties and relatives and how he was related to them was suddenly known to him. He watched many years' worth of memories until finally they stopped and Harry woke up.

"Harry!" The eight-year old boy groaned and rolled over.

"Harry it's our _birthday!_" Check that, the nine-year-old boy groaned and rolled over.

"Harry, Harry, Harry, get UP!" Hands were suddenly on him and they were shaking, shoving and pulling as much as they could.

Then they stopped and Harry was alone once more. He took a moment to bask in the silence until he realized what the silence meant. _Oh no…_

But it was too late and a bucket of water was being thrown on him and _damn, that's freezing!_

Harry jumped up and saw the back of James's shirt as he ran away. Harry shook his head to himself, resulting in drops of water to be flung out of his hair. A moment later, Harry was running after James and they were both shrieking and yelling and making their way to the kitchen where they knew the parents would be. Harry did so to beg for a drying spell. James did so to seek refuge among sympathetic fathers.

"James, I swear to the mother of Merlin I will get you back for this!" Harry yelled and his only reply was the laughter coming from his twin. Finally Harry caught up to him and all he had to do was reach his hand out a little further…

And then a large arm found its way around Harry's small body and he was being hoisted up into the arm by his new father.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!" Charlus yelled and a glance over revealed that James was dealing with much the same problem, only from their mother.

"Muuuuum!" James cried. "Mum, I'm nine now! I'm too old to be picked up!" Charlus put Harry down and walked over to the other twin.

"Oh really?" He asked and took James from his wife. He held James by his ankles and lifted him from the ground the way he knew James enjoyed. "I guess it's too bad since you're nine now, we can't do this anymore." He shook his head in mock disappointment and lowered James back. Charlus turned back to Harry, the younger of the twins. "Does that mean I can't pick you up either?" He pouted.

Harry grinned and shook his head. He could remember his time back with the Dursleys when all he wanted was to be picked up and played with like Dudley always was. Now he had a chance and wasn't about to ruin it.

"No? Wonderful!" Charlus picked Harry up again and continued the walk to the kitchen. "So what happened to get you all wet?" He asked and Harry looked down in surprise. He completely forgot about that!

But the surprise was quickly forgotten and Harry turned to look at James – who was hiding behind Dorea – with narrowed eyes.

"_Someone_ decided it was a good idea to dump a bucket of water on me." He looked pointedly at his twin, who in turn rolled his eyes.

"You weren't waking up! You're supposed to get up early on your birthday!"

"No, you're supposed to let me sleep in for as long as I want on my birthday!"

"But it's my birthday too and I wanted to get up early!"

"You could've gotten up early and let me sleep!"

"Does it really bother you so much?"

At this Harry stopped. "Well… no, it doesn't bother me. But now I'm cold and wet!" He pouted and with a flick of a wand, Charlus had him dried.

"There, now stop arguing. It's time for breakfast then presents! A few of the family are coming over later, so get a shower and wear some good clothes." He looked at Harry who blushed – in the memories Harry had a tendency to wear the comfortable clothes, which were often the old and ragged ones.

"Yes father" James said and saluted him before running off to get to the kitchen first. Harry wriggled in his father's arms as a request to be put down and took off after James, hoping to find a way to get him back for the water incident.

Charlus and Dorea watched with wide smiles as it happened. They both loved their boys but were also worried; Dorea's old family, the Blacks, would be meeting them for the first time. She wanted to think she was being ridiculous and nothing would happen but she knew her old family and knew her boys wouldn't measure to their expectations.

The family that would be coming was distant to her. They were related by a great-grandparent of some sort. Therefore, she wasn't close with them and hadn't seen them in years. All she knew was they had two boys as well: a boy the same age as her sons and one younger by a year.

She figured it would be better to have them meet before Hogwarts in two years so that way James and Harry would know what to expect.

They eventually made it to the kitchen and were surprised when they saw Harry sitting at the table and James standing with an egg cracked on his head and a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"I- I- he- I was- there wasn't- he just- I was only- didn't deserve this- HARRY!" Charlus began to laugh and Dorea couldn't contain her chuckles and turned to her younger son.

"Harry, dear, what did you do?" Harry just hummed and turned towards her innocently.

"Did you know that when someone dumps water on me, I retaliate by the use of eggs? I didn't know. It must be a survival instinct." The parents just laughed some more and a simple cleaning charm took the egg out of James' hair and cleaned the floor where it landed.

"You're all laughing at me! That's so insulting." He sulked and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.

Dorea called for a house elf and ask for him to deliver the food she had under stasis. He did so and in a matter of seconds, there was a full breakfast feast prepared for the birthday boys.

"Hey Harry," James forgot about the morning's events when an idea came to mind. "I bet I can eat more pancakes than you!"

Harry eyed the plate of different sized pancakes and nodded. "You're on!" And they both reached for the kind of their choice. James went immediately to a large chocolate chip pancake and Harry took a small one of some sort of fruit (blueberry, as he found out a moment later when he had to force himself not to spit it out).

Dorea knew immediately what his strategy was when Harry took extra time to grab his pancakes. While James was snatching and devouring, Harry was taking only the smallest of the flat foods and eating them slowly to prevent a stomachache.

When James reached 6 pancakes he was looking queasy but Harry just grabbed a seventh one and had never looked better. Harry munched away happily and smiled smugly at his brother. "I think I win," he declared.

James stuck out his lower lip. "How did you beat me? You hardly eat at all! That's why you're so skinny!" Harry cocked his head.

"You're skinny, too, James." He reminded him but the hazel-eyed boy just waved it off.

"Yes, but that's because of my fast metabolism." Harry didn't understand why that mattered but ignored it.

"Right… well, what do I get for winning?" He asked with a dazzling smile on his face.

"You get to open your present first!" Charlus cut in and handed a long, thin box to Harry.

Harry, having gotten a few packages before that looked just like this, smiled widely. He hoped it was what he thought it was. Harry neatly yet efficiently pulled the wrapping off of the present and examined the gift with boundless happiness. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He chanted while hugging the new Cleansweep260. Both parents smiled and looked over at James, who was looking at the broom with unconcealed envy. Charlus rolled his eyes and pulled out and enlarged an identical package.

"Happy Birthday, boys" he repeated his earlier words and Dorea copied them.

"Now off with you two, go enjoy your special day!"

"And try those brooms out; I heard they're pretty spectacular!" He winked at them and Harry and James smiled; Dorea always joked that their father was more of a quidditch fanatic than the twins combined.

"Be back in for lunch at noon!"

"Yes, mum!" The boys intoned and ran off to the quidditch pitch with their new brooms.

* * *

It was a few hours later and the twins were dressed in their best robes. Dorea told them that her something (second? Third? Harry couldn't remember) cousin and her sons would be visiting. After he heard their ages, Harry was sure it was Sirius and his younger brother Regulus. He was worried and wasn't sure how to act.

Harry wasn't used to being a pureblood so the etiquette was unclear to him. Not to mention, Harry wasn't sure how he would react to seeing his godfather. How would Sirius act? Would he be the perfect pureblood prince? Would he be acting out already?

A flare from the fireplace interrupted his thoughts and a woman stepped elegantly out of the green flames. Harry recognized her as Walburga, Sirius's mother, from the portrait in Grimmauld Place. She was truly a unique woman: her hair was long and black but was uncontrollable, despite any efforts she could make. Her face was permanently set in a scowl that remained even when she tried to force a smile.

"Dorea, dear, how nice it is to see you again." She greeted and flicked her wand to dispel any dust still on her. She walked forward to greet her and Dorea did the same.

"Walburga, it's been too long! You're looking wonderful, as always." James and Harry both controlled their eye rolls but were thinking the same thing: why must there always be the fake statements and false delight?

As the women continued to speak and exchange compliments, the twins watched the fire. A few seconds later, a small boy stumbled through before righting himself. Harry watched James' reaction to him coming through. After the small boy moved aside, the boy who Harry knew was Sirius came through.

Harry's breath caught. While the resemblance wasn't overly noticeable, Harry could still see his old godfather in this boy's face.

James was trying to keep back a face of disgust. From the way they held themselves, he could see the two boys would end up as snakes in the future. The taller boy had a rogue face with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes that seemed to be begging for a worthy conversationalist. Meanwhile, the smaller boy had a younger, rounder face that would clearly change as he grew up to become sharp and striking.

The guests seemed to be sizing up the twins and Harry wondered what they saw. All he knew was that they were both of average height with ink black hair. Both were wearing glasses (though Harry already asked and he would be getting his eyes fixed before Hogwarts in two years as a birthday gift – the glasses were only a pain to him in his last life and he wasn't going to make that mistake again) in front of their eyes. James had clear hazel eyes that seemed to shine while Harry had deep green eyes of trancelike disposition.

Whatever they found seemed to soothe Sirius as he relaxed a little, but Regulus only stiffened and stood next to his mother.

"Walburga," Dorea began, "I'd like you to meet my twin sons, James and Harry Potter." She put a hand on their shoulders as she spoke to point out who was who.

"It is a…" she hesitated, "_pleasure_ to meet you."

She said it as if it was anything but.

Sirius rolled his eyes and Harry smiled when he saw it. Ah, yes, same old Sirius. James also appeared to see it and his disgust changed to curiosity and amusement.

"This is my heir, Sirius," she went to put her hand on his shoulder much like Dorea did but he moved almost unnoticeably so it instead brushed his back. She shot a quick glare at him and continued. "He is your sons' age. This is my youngest, Regulus, who is a year younger."

Sirius gave a lopsided smile and extended his hand to Dorea. Went she went to shake it, he turned it over and kissed her knuckles while sweeping a deep bow. "It is my pleasure to meet such a fine woman, madam." He said in a voice that hinted at his mischievous side. Charlus (whoops, Harry forgot he was there since he was being so quiet) looked over at his twins and suppressed a groan. This kid was _just like them_. They would cause so much trouble.

Walburga kicked her eldest son in the heel and Harry grimaced. Yes, she was just like in the portrait. After a few more moments, everyone was introduced and the women told the boys to run off.

Harry and James looked at each other and decided the best place to go was probably the quidditch pitch, since it was a neutral area.

They walked in silence and Sirius kept watching them, most likely to see if they acted the same on their own as they did in front of adults. Unfortunately, since Sirius wasn't watching where he was going, he walked straight into one of James' traps: a cord that, if tripped, would release blue smoke that covered all it touched.

Harry and James froze in horror. These were their _guests_! Harry knew that Sirius didn't do well with people he didn't know so this had the potential to be disastrous.

"Who put that there?" He demanded and James pointed to Harry and Harry pointed to James and both were praying he wouldn't tell his mother. Harry, having just gotten his father back from the dead and seeing his godfather for the first time in years, decided to take the blame. He didn't want James to get in trouble with their parents so he hesitantly pointed to himself.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Harry and turned to James. "Do you have any more?" He asked and both Potters dropped their jaws. Secretly, Harry was ecstatic. He was worried Sirius was still loyal to his family, but that didn't seem to be the case.

James nodded frantically. "Yeah! I have a whole collection that Harry doesn't know about!" Harry looked at him and raised his eyebrows but James just winked and turned away. A timid voice broke through their new conversation.

"Uh, Sirius? Mother will be mad." Regulus said and Sirius scoffed.

"I don't care if she's mad. I haven't had new people to prank in months and you're all no fun." He looked at James and smiled wide. "Do you have any punny pickles? I used my last ones last month and mother hasn't let me get any more. Those are my favorite!"

James laughed. "Of course I do! I like to use those on Harry since if he could, I'm sure he'd talk in puns all day-"

"That's not true!"

"-but mum hasn't let me recently 'cause Ry gets all embarrassed and stuff. Anyways, they're in my room, which is this way."

"Sirius, I really don't think mother will like this."

"I know she won't. Don't you know me by now Reggie? The fact that mother dearest won't like it just makes me want to do it more."

Regulus frowned but didn't say anything more. Harry was trying desperately trying to hold in his excitement at becoming friends with his ex-godfather.

James led the group of four through twisting hallways until they ended in the family hall. James had his room opposite the master suite and motioned for them to come through.

"I used up the last of my colorful candies a few days ago when I slipped one to dad, but I should have everything else. I personally recommend one of my many potions which I got exclusively from Zandob Zonko himself." James presented them with a flourish and Sirius adopted a greedy look.

"Hmm, yes, now which one would my lovely mother hate most?" He pondered softly to himself. Harry – since he wanted to get on Sirius' good side – stepped in.

"Might I suggest one of the small bottles on your left? They're rare; we only have some because Zandob likes us. They turn the drinker's skin the color of the bottle, but the drinker can't see it. They are completely unaware that there's anything wrong with their skin and can't be removed or glamoured until it wears off after three hours or so."

Sirius looked up in excitement. "What do you want for them? I could pay you!" Harry wasn't sure what to say so he motioned for James to take over.

"Hmm… well, I dare say you'd be using it for a good cause. It'd be a shame for me to charge you for something like that… So let's make a deal. I'll give you five bottles: a red, blue, green, purple, and orange. All I ask is you don't use those bottles on us. That includes Regulus because it would be rude and he'd probably figure out what you've done."

Sirius smiled happily and nodded. "That's an easy deal mate. So, tell me about yourselves."

And thus began the friendship between Harry, James, and Sirius.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone! I already have a new chapter out because why the hell not? I have questions at the end :)

This chapter contains the troublesome trio going off to Diagon Alley :) Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3

Time passed quickly over the next two years. Sirius became a frequent guest at the Potter Manor but would be sure to never show up uninvited. Letters were exchanged often and Sirius would come over once or twice a month to spend the day with the family of four.

After the very first meeting, the twins only saw Regulus twice more. Both times he was forced to accompany Sirius at the Potters to make sure he wasn't acting out.

Harry saw the looks Regulus would make. He tried hard to keep the emotions off of his face but Harry saw the worship he had for his older brother. It was as if Regulus wasn't sure whether to stick with his brother or their parents. Harry couldn't imagine the emotional strain Regulus was being put through as he was pressured to either stay the perfect son or be the kind of brother Sirius would be proud to have.

Harry felt bad for him but couldn't bring himself to talk to him much. He only found friendship with Sirius to be easy since he already knew somewhat how he acted. And while he knew that Regulus ended up doing the right thing in his old life, he still couldn't get over the fact that for a while, he was bad.

Meanwhile, the bond between Harry and James was still strong. Harry knew it would never reach the Fred-and-George level bond, but it was good all the same. The boys didn't know each other's thoughts, but could read their expressions and body language better than anyone else.

Today it was James and Harry's eleventh birthday and Sirius was going to come over at ten o'clock so they could go to Diagon Alley for the day. The Potters haven't been there for a few months and never with Sirius so it was sure to be an eventful day.

But for now, Harry was eating waffles with his brother waiting for their parents to wake up.

"Hey Harry, wanna have a waffle-eating contest?" Harry looked at the waffles: they were all the same size so he knew he wouldn't be able to eat more than three or four.

"No thank you, James. I don't fancy dooming myself to endless humiliation when I lose." James smirked.

"So you know you'll lose?" Harry snorted.

"Of course I will. You could easily eat at least eight of these waffles. Mind you, I have no idea _how…_"

"That's what happens when you grow up, little brother."

"HEY! I'm the same age as you!"

"But I was born first"

"By _twelve minutes_"

"I am therefore twelve minutes older than you at all times."

"Could've fooled me," Harry muttered. "You've always been able to eat more than me, why would I willingly subject myself to that?"

"Because that one year you ate more than me."

Harry hummed and decided not to tell his brother that it was all in the way you looked at it. Sure Harry ate more _pancakes_ than James two years ago. But he didn't actually eat more_ pancake_.

A moment later, the silence that fell upon the brothers was interrupted by their parents stumbling in.

Charlus stared at them with wide eyes. "What the bloody hell are you guys doing up at five in the morning?!"

"_Charlus!_" Dorea scolded. "Don't you dare use that language in front of the kids!"

"Dorea, you can't tell me you aren't wondering the same thing!"

"Of course I am, but I can worry about it after my third cup of coffee." Charlus just gaped before shaking his head.

"Mmm… Happy Birthday boys, are you excited for Diagon Alley?" The twins nodded.

"Yeah, I can't wait!" James yelled and Charlus winced.

"Shush, James. Daddy-dearest can't focus when your voice is louder than a whisper." Harry said quietly and James rolled his eyes.

"Just because _you_ hardly speak above a mumble most of the time…"

"Boys," Dorea said warningly, "no fighting on your birthday."

"Fighting?" Harry said in a wounded tone with a hand held to his heart. "We _never_ fight, isn't that right James?"

"Oh yes, we're the best of brothers." Both boys nodded seriously and the adults just stared for a moment before letting it go.

"Have you received your letters yet?" Harry shook his head and stood up with his plate.

"No, we're hoping they get here before Sirius does though." He walked over to the sink and placed the plate there. As he walked back to the table, James gave him a pleading look. Harry rolled his eyes and took his plate too.

"If they don't, we'll just look off of Sirius's list" James pitched in.

"Good plan," Charlus complimented and leaned back in his chair. "So tell me, what do you plan on doing for the next five hours as you're restlessly waiting for Sirius to show up?" He looked at them with an amused expression and Harry groaned.

"Don't ask me, I didn't even want to be up for another few hours!"

"Then why did you get up? The sun only just rose!" Harry scoffed.

"I had to either get up when James did or deal with the same thing as I do every year. I didn't desire waking up to colorful hair or warts on my skin, so I had to get up when he did." He shot James a nasty look. "That was_ four-thirty_ in the morning."

James just shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room. After a moment, Harry followed. "Do you reckon Sirius will have any pumpkin pastries- actually, you know what? Never mind. Even if he did, I wouldn't eat anything from him anyways."

James laughed. "Smart choice, I wonder if we could convince some little kids to try some of our pranks. Do you think if I give a blood pop to a kid and say it is strawberry, he'll believe me? I've been dying to try that one out for months."

The boys continued to laugh and make plans until they were called at around eight thirty because their letters came. Harry smiled at his and remembered when he was sent hundreds of letters in his last life.

He looked at the address and basked in the relief of him not living in the "cupboard under the stairs"

* * *

**Mr. H Potter**

**Third Largest Room**

**Potter Manor**

**England**

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Deputy Headmistress**

Attached was the list of supplies that was needed and Harry barely stopped a laugh at the fact that twenty years would pass and not a single item would change.

* * *

"Where do we go first?" Sirius and James were standing side-by-side and Harry was a little ways behind them, having been pushed back in the crowd.

"I want to get my wand! Can't we do that first?" James asked in reply to his brother.

"Should we wait and do everything else first? Y'know, as a 'save the best for last' kind of thing." Harry replied and Sirius looked deep in thought.

"I say we get all the extra stuff we need first. We should go first to Potage's Cauldron Shop and then the apothecary to get basic ingredients." James nodded in agreement but Harry tipped his head.

"Why should we get potions ingredients? It doesn't ask for any." Sirius turned to him and winked.

"That's how you get ahead. Learn from the other students what potion we would be doing that day and pull out the ingredients you need. That way, you don't have to fight for them and you can get started quicker." Harry was impressed by the sheer brilliance of the plan.

"Okay, so we'll start there." The trio walked over to the stores, which were conveniently across from each other, and found their cauldrons quickly. They also got the phials while they were there.

After that, they walked across the busy street and got the common components from the apothecary. They also managed to get scales and two stores down was an astronomy shop where the boys got a telescope each.

After all of that "hard work" Sirius decided they deserved to "reward themselves" and spent the better part of an hour at Gambol and Japes – the joke store they loved.

James ended up giving a blood pop to a young girl, who spit it out and ran off crying somewhere.

While the boys were getting their books at Flourish &amp; Blotts Harry looked around and hoped to see Remus but knew it was unlikely. After all, what were the odds that they were at the _same_ store at the _same _time on the _same_ day?

Harry decided that since he already had the knowledge of his Hogwarts years, he would put forth his effort into learning something else. He ended up getting a few extra books on runes and various less-known magics. He was going to have some additional time anyways, and he planned on taking better electives this time around so the runes book would be helpful.

At that point, the trio stopped for ice cream at Florean Fortescue's and talked joyfully about anything and everything.

"Are you going to bring a broom to Hogwarts, Sirius?" James asked and Harry frowned at him.

"But James, we're not supposed to," Harry reminded him but he waved him off.

"Yeah but we can go flying at night or something, I mean we have the cloak-"

"_James!_" Harry cried and they both looked at Sirius to gauge his reaction. He merely lifted an eyebrow and cocked his head.

"A cloak, Jamsie-boy? Now, do tell me how a cloak would help you." The twins looked at each other and eventually Harry shrugged.

"We might as well tell him, Merlin only knows he's gonna end up in some nightly adventures anyways." James beamed and turned towards Sirius. He motioned for him to come closer and whispered surreptitiously:

"We have an invisibility cloak"

And then he jumped back and smiled widely and elaborated. "It's not even like one of those cheap, fake ones you find at a children's store. I mean, the cloak is silvery and kind of heavy but not overly so. And if someone puts it on it actually works! You know how the cheap ones just kind of makes the air blurry so you can tell someone's there but you just don't know who?" He waited for Sirius's nod before continuing. "Well this one actually makes someone _invisible_! I mean as-if-there's-nothing-there invisible!" James smiled happily and Sirius seemed amused and excited.

"That's going to make Hogwarts so much fun!" He exclaimed and the three boys chatted happily about the adventures they would go on and how they would find any and all secret passages in the castle.

After their ice cream was gone, they continued on and picked up three-compartment trunks to hold their supplies in. They took all of their shrunken packages and placed them in their trunks before calling over a lady near them an asking her to shrink the trunks for them.

She was happy to do it (if there was one thing Harry learned while in the Wizarding World, it would be that witches and wizards love to feel needed) and soon enough they were off towards Madam Malkin's. James considered going instead to Twilfitt and Tatting's to get the best robes, but Sirius refused to because and said he didn't want to run into any of the pureblood families his parents were friends with.

So instead they went to Madam Malkin's and James was the first to be fitted as some girl was on the second stand. Harry stood and waited as Sirius talked with the girl.

"Hullo lovely, what's your name?" He asked and the girl stuck her nose in the air.

"That's not something I want you to know" she said snootily and James laughed out loud.

"Ouch, Siri, she doesn't like you!" Harry laughed quietly in agreement and watched Sirius's reaction. He only rolled his eyes and walked back next to Harry and leaned against the walls.

"Jamie's only jealous because he doesn't have the balls to even talk to girls." He said not-so-discreetly and James shot him a dirty look. But it didn't go unnoticed that Sirius was right and he didn't talk to the no-name girl. A few minutes later she left and Sirius took her spot and started to get measured.

A little while later both boys were done and Harry was just finishing when a familiar boy stepped into the store. Harry had to hold back a groan and wondered why all of the bad things had to happen at this store. He tried to ignore the pale-skinned, big-nosed, soon-to-be Slytherin, but it didn't seem as if he was going to be ignoring them.

"Oh look," he drawled and all three boys watched him warily. "It's Black. Have you really lowered yourself to the ranks of the blood-traitors?" Harry was surprised. When he saw the memories in the pensieve, it seemed as though it was his father and his friends who were the bullies. Yet here, right in front of him, was proof that Severus Snape said the first insult and therefore began the feud between the Marauders and the Slytherins.

James glared at him. "Why don't you shut up? You're just a big-nosed, slimy snake!"

Snape sneered and turned his back on them just as the lady finished with Harry's robes. "You're all done, dear." She said and the three eleven-year-olds expressed their thanks and paid quickly before leaving the shop and Snape behind.

"The nerve of him!" Sirius cried out as soon as they were far enough away. "Who does he think he is? He was acting like a right prat but he wasn't a pureblood. I know every pureblood there is and I can guarantee he isn't one of them." Sirius was walking quickly and Harry and James looked at each other worriedly while trying to keep up. "Yet he looks at _me_ and he calls _me_ a blood-traitor! The pureblood views are terrible and my not wanting anything to do with them only proves that I'm a reasonable human being!"

The twins let Sirius rant as they walked towards Ollivander's to get their wands. Sirius finally quieted down when they walked in and was apparently to busy staring at the wands that he couldn't be bothered to complain any longer.

Harry was expecting Ollivander to sneak up behind them but was still surprised when it happened and jumped backwards with the other two. "Ah, yes, the Potter twins. I remember when your parents came in and received their wands." Harry was scared the old man would somehow know that he wasn't completely normal but to his relief, Ollivander didn't seem to notice anything off. "And Sirius Black, your mother's wand was particularly unstable. After all, dragon heartstring is unpredictable. But you're different from them, aren't you?"

The boys looked at each other uneasily and the man asked who would be first.

"I'll go first," Sirius said bravely and Ollivander grinned.

"Wonderful! Now tell me, which arm is your wand arm?"

After six tries, Sirius ended up with a cherry wand with a phoenix feather core. James went next and got his mahogany wand (which Harry faintly remembered Ollivander telling him when he got his wand in his last life) with a unicorn hair core.

Harry wasn't sure if he was going to get the same wand or not. While he loved his holly wand, he really didn't want something to connect him with Voldemort. Not to mention that if something goes wrong and someone needs the brother want to Voldy's, Harry would rather they have it.

He was measured as the other two boys were and Ollivander started shoving wands at him. Harry raised wand after wand after wand and it was going on to ten minutes when he finally felt the warmth of a wand choosing him. It was surprisingly a lot stronger than he could remember the holly and phoenix feather wand being and Harry felt giddy from the power it supplied him with.

"Hmm… 11 inches, larch wood with dragon heartstring, slightly springy. Very interesting. A powerful wand which hints at a powerful wizard, but the wielder often doesn't realize or believe they are capable at being great." He looked up sharply at Harry. "You will certainly do wonderful things, Mr. Potter, oh yes."

After that, the boy left and James kept shooting glances at Harry as if to say 'why didn't you tell me you were powerful?' Though really, without a wand how was he supposed to know?

Their final destination was the Magical Menagerie where James and Harry got a light brown owl to share while at Hogwarts. Harry didn't want to get an owl purely for himself because he was still missing Hedwig and didn't think any owl could ever be as good as her. So instead they got the barn owl affectionately named "Nuntius" (which was just 'messenger' in Latin. James is so lame).

The boys both already spoke to Professor McGonagall and she gave them permission to have an animal each in addition to their shared owl. Harry was excited at the prospect of having a pet and went quickly over to the kittens (because it was either that or a toad, and why would he need a toad?).

He searched for a few minutes until he came to a box that had six or seven kittens no larger than the palm of his small hand. He was immediately drawn to the smallest and blackest one in the corner who just looked up at him, emitting soft meows ever few seconds. Its eyes were a lighter green than his own, almost yellow, but it shared a likeness that Harry knew he had to have it.

"I'd like the small one in the corner." He requested to the man behind the counter and he got it for him.

"She's a tiny little thing, so well behaved though." He told him and Harry smiled and asked for the basic materials he would need for it.

"It's a female then?" He asked and the man confirmed it.

"Aye. Just a few weeks old, she is." Harry thanked the man, bought the supplies, and walked over to where his brother and friend were standing by the door.

"Didn't find anything?" He asked them and they gave negative responses.

"I'm going to ask Professor McGonagall if I can get a crup, but I doubt it." Sirius informed him and Harry laughed.

"What do you have there, Harry?" James asked and Harry raised the little kitten in his hands.

"She's a kitten, only a few weeks old apparently." Sirius scratched it on his head and they both aww'd when she meowed quietly.

"What are you gonna name her?" Sirius asked and Harry shrugged.

"Dunno yet. I'm hoping it'll just come to me." James laughed and shook his head.

"I don't think that really happens, Ry." He informed him but Harry just shrugged and held his new kitten closer. "Are you going to be able to take care of her?" He continued and Harry shrugged.

"I sure hope so. If not, I'm sure a girl in our year would be happy to help me out." Harry looked up and winked at the others, making them laugh and roll their eyes in humor.

* * *

A/N Hi! I hope you enjoyed it :) also, I need names for the kitten! And who should Harry end up with, what should his animagus be, and what should his nickname be? Thanks a ton, guys!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! I decided to put yet another chapter up because why not? I put most of the meetings into this chapter, so I hope you like it :) I'm still looking for who you want me to put Harry with (I'm leaning towards Remus), his animagus form (I think I have an idea but I'm definitely open for suggestions) and the marauder nickname.

ALSO should I have Harry just kind of take Peter's spot and have them be the four marauders or should Peter still be one and have there be 5?

DISCLAIMER: not mine (as always) and thank you to **Fae0306 **for the kitten's name, it was perfect! ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 4

After the trip to Diagon Alley, the prospect of going to Hogwarts seemed more real. It was weird having a spring birthday (since his birthday was now the same as James') so they had to wait another 4-5 months until they could finally go. Harry was partly dreading having to repeat his seven years of schooling, but he was determined to live it to the fullest this time. The second time around he had no scar, no glasses, and no evil megalomaniacs trying to kill him every year.

James was excited about having a whole castle open for them to explore and Sirius seemed to like the idea of freedom. Sirius also ended up asking Professor McGonagall (or Minnie, as James calls her) about bringing a crup but got a solid "no" which left him pouting for days.

At one point, Sirius stayed with the Potters for three whole days including nights when he got into a fight with his mother over houses. She wanted to force him to get into Slytherin even though he told her he would do everything he could to get into any other house.

But then Regulus showed up and dragged Sirius over to the floo talking a mile a minute about how 'mother is furious' and 'she's gonna kill both of us when we get home'. Sirius was upset and tried to shrug Regulus off, but eventually went with him if only to protect his younger brother (later, Sirius would say that he went back to cause more problems and to rile his mother up but Harry knew better).

But overall, the months went by quickly and soon they were at platform nine and three-quarters saying their final goodbye.

"You'll write to us, yeah?" Charlus checked while straightening James' robes.

"Of course dad, all the time." He droned and rolled his eyes. Charlus frowned but continued.

"I expect a letter once a week. Don't look at me like that, James! Harry, do try to keep your brother in line." Charlus turned to his younger son and pet the kitten on his shoulders. Since Harry got her, she's deemed his shoulders as her spot and it was rare he was without her. It was for that reason that the black cat, affectionately dubbed "Peri" from the gem peridot, was always being touched and cuddled.

James gaped. "But dad, Harry is just as bad as me!"

"That's not true and we both know it. Though I do hope, for your sake, you make another friend that can manage to keep you from too much trouble. I feel bad for Minerva, she's going to have to put up with you boys in her detentions all of the time."

Harry smiled slyly. "That's assuming we get caught, which we don't plan on." Charlus chuckled quietly and Dorea cut in.

"Okay now boys, don't play too many pranks and for goodness sake, don't single out the Slytherins." She looked pointedly at James who ducked his head. "We don't care which house you get into, you'll make us proud no matter what."

"Semantics," Harry mumbled to his brother who laughed. "Yes mum, we'll make you proud when we get into Gryffindor." She rolled her eyes.

"Do you promise to be good?"

"We solemnly swear we'll be good." James said and Harry looked over at him in surprise. Was this how he came up with the password for the map?

"Good, now go on. The trains going to leave soon and I don't want you to get a bad seat." Last minute hugs were exchanged and then they were meeting up with Sirius and boarding the train.

Harry smiled at the memories he had on the red train with Ron and Hermione. Since going back in time, he hadn't thought about them much but it was mostly purposeful. Looking back on his years with them, he saw how much trouble he got them into and all of the life-threatening situations. He figured their lives would probably be better without his problems this time.

Harry was also content with his new friend and brother who were currently helping him put his trunk on the train. When they were done, they walked down the aisle and looked for an empty compartment.

They weren't having any luck when Harry saw Severus Snape one train car ahead of them. "James!" He warned his brother. "I really don't want to get into a confrontation with him right now." The bespectacled boy saw where his twin was pointing and nodded before pushing him to the side.

James reached around him and opened the door of the compartment closest to them and shoved Harry in, paying no mind to the young boy looking out the window.

"Siri, close the door when you're in." James said quietly and Sirius did so. The trip collapsed against the padded train seats and simultaneously looked up to see who their companion was. Harry was forced to do a double take when he saw his ex-professor.

Remus Lupin looked much better than he ever did when Harry knew him and the physical changes were astounding. His once ratty clothes were of better condition and while he still had bags under his eyes, they were now much less pronounced. His hair was sandy brown and a little tousled but not nearly as messy as James and Harry's. Harry couldn't see his eyes, but knew they would be the green shade they were when they weren't shining amber.

Remus also had a light pink scar from the bridge of his nose that stretched to below his right cheekbone. There were plenty more small nicks and white scars across the rest of his face and neck, but were much less visible.

It was when they were studying him that Remus turned towards them and offered a small, shy smile. Harry could see James grin back at him and Sirius gave a lopsided smile and held out a hand.

"Hullo there, I'm Sirius." He informed and Remus took his hand.

"I'm James, and this is my little brother Harry." James said and Harry rolled his eyes.

"For Merlin's sake, James, 12 minutes doesn't give you the right to introduce me to everyone as your younger brother. And really, I can introduce myself!" Remus smiled a little wider at the three friends and spoke.

"I'm Remus Lupin; it's nice to meet you." He said, taking their offered hands one by one.

"Ditto," Harry responded and flashed a small smile too. Sirius leaned back in his seat and stretched his legs out.

"Well, since we're going to be here for a few hours, we should probably get to know you. Which house do you think you'll get in?" He asked and Remus shrugged and picked at his clothes.

"I dunno, I read a lot so maybe Ravenclaw." He said quietly and Sirius shook his head.

"Nuh-uh, I see that look in your eye. I know that look because it's exactly like the one Harry gets. Jamsie-boy and I are big pranksters, see, and Harry is too but he follows," Sirius scrunched up his nose in revulsion, "_rules_. You're more like Harry, I can tell. So you'll make Gryffindor, I'm sure of it." Remus gave off a bright smile; Harry knew it was probably because he was being accepted.

"We're all going to make Gryffindor; we've been planning it for years. It'll be great! It's like one endless party since we'll be sharing a room and we can plan pranks together and cause chaos – it's gonna be so much fun!" James rambled excitedly.

Sirius frowned for a minute. "My family's been in Slytherin, so they expect me to end up there, but I know I won't be happy so I'm hoping to be with these two." He pointed at James and Harry. "My family will hate me and I'll get at least a few howlers, but it'll be worth it."

James clutched his heart and leaned against Sirius. "Aw, Siri, that's so sweet of you!" He gushed and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, shove off." He muttered and James winked before turning to the brown-haired boy.

"So mate, how'd you get that big scar on your cheek?" Harry's head snapped up and he elbowed James sharply in the side.

"James! It's rude to ask people about scars. Remus probably doesn't want to talk about it!" Truthfully, Harry knew it was more than likely that Remus got it on a full moon. He also knew that the scars he inflicted upon himself was a sore subject for him.

Remus gave a slow, grateful smile towards Harry and turned towards James. "It's nothing exciting, just the family dog." He grimaced and Harry realized that was probably how Remus saw himself. "My parents get sick and lonely a lot, so I'll probably visit them often. The dog hasn't ever really liked me though, so he scratches me a lot when I'm there."

Harry was impressed by how well he constructed that cover story. It would cover all of his bases: gives a reason he'd be absent during the full moons and also explains why he would come back with more scars than he left with.

James and Sirius seemed to accept the cover and conversation changed to many different topics. "Do you play quidditch, Remus?" was of course one of the first questions asked.

He shook his head and pulled a bag he had next to him closer. "Brooms don't really like me." He laughed and the others joined in. "But I take it you do? I follow a team sometimes when they have good odds but I'm not too into the game. Do you play?"

James nodded frantically. "Of course! If I were allowed, I would try out for the chaser spot this year, but I can't 'til next year." Sirius agreed and mentioned that he wanted to be a beater, but there likely wouldn't be an open spot for another two years since the beaters now were both sixth years.

"I like to play seeker, but I don't think I'll actually be able to get a spot until I'm older." Harry knew this wasn't true, but he didn't want to rob someone of their position considering they would have gotten it if he wasn't in this timeline.

Sirius rolled his eyes and went to say something, probably protest, but Harry kept talking.

"James is really good, and he's also spectacular with strategies, so I bet he'll make captain when he's older."

James flushed only slightly and shook his head. "Flattery doesn't become you, Ry." He mumbled quietly and Harry laughed.

"So Remus, if you don't play the only wizarding sport, what _do_ you do?" Sirius asked and Remus shrunk back into his seat.

"Well… like I said, I read a lot."

"Muggle or magical books?" Harry asked and Remus quirked a grin.

"Whichever. I prefer the magical fiction books but muggle short stories are particularly good." Harry looked up.

"Short stories? Aren't those kind of… I dunno, known for being creepy and death-filled?" Remus smiled bigger than he had so far and nodded.

"I like reading those ones, not because of the creepiness but because you can just _tell_ the author is insane. It makes you feel more normal and like there are people who are stranger than you are…" he got quieter near the end and Harry saw that Remus was spilling a little bit of his heart, though it wasn't overly noticeable.

"I take it you like Poe, then?" Harry asked and James gave him a weird look, asking how Harry knew anything about _books_?

But Harry ignored him and watched Remus as he nodded almost bashfully. "I have a book of all of his works. He was a squib, did you know that?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I had no idea. I read some of his short stories a year or two ago," (he actually read them in his third year, but he couldn't say that so it was better if he just lied) "and he's quite the morbid guy." Remus agreed and the conversation changed again for a new topic.

It was about an hour later that the lady with the trolley came around and asked them if they wanted anything. Sirius and James pulled out a few galleons each and bought a whole pile of sweets and treats. Remus, however, took out a few bronze knuts and asked for only two chocolate frogs.

Harry frowned and decided to buy some chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Jelly Beans. He figured later on during the train ride he could offer one of his frogs to Remus, who he knew had a weakness for chocolate.

Another peaceful hour and a half passed before they were disturbed by their compartment door opening. The four first years looked up and three of them groaned when they saw Severus Snape standing there.

"Oh, look at this. A band of blood-traitors. And what are you? A mudblood?" Sirius stood quickly and glared at Snape.

"You listen here, snake. This is OUR compartment, and you insulting us isn't a very good idea. My being a Black means I know plenty of borderline spells and I wouldn't regret using one on you."

James joined in after Sirius finished. "You made a bad choice by coming in here alone. You're four to one right now, it'd be best for you to leave." It was after this that a young redheaded girl walked up behind the sallow-skinned boy.

"Severus? Who are you talking to?" She then looked into the compartment and was shocked to see four wands pointing at Snape. Harry had to keep back a noise and instead settled for a widening of his eyes when he saw his mother. She was just like Snape's memories showed her as. She was small and curious about all things magical.

"Who are you guys? Severus, are they threatening you?" Her innocent eyes narrowed and Harry and Remus put their wands away. Sirius, James and Snape, however, kept theirs out.

"Come on Lily, we shouldn't spend time with them." She nodded in agreement and shot another glare at the four boys. Harry realized then that it was probably during this meeting that Lily started her hatred against the Marauders. Wanting to change that, he spoke up.

"Excuse me miss, but are you aware that he insulted us first?"

Lily Evans looked up in surprise and raised her eyebrows. "Severus doesn't provoke fights."

"Well he did this time. He just walked into our compartment and insulted us; he even called Remmy a- uh- dirtyblood. You know what I mean by that." Harry figured this would help her understand that Snape was in the wrong. No matter how much she valued their friendship, it was gone when he called her a mudblood in their final years at Hogwarts.

Lily turned hurt eyes to Snape. "Sev, you know how much I hate that word…"

Snape glared. "They're lying! You know I would never call someone that!"

James jumped back into the conversation. "You did, though you should probably know that Remus isn't even muggleborn."

Lily sighed one of those I'm-disappointed-in-you-but-won't-say-so sighs and shook her head. "I'm going to go back to our section." She said and turned and left. Severus sneered at them one more time before following, closing the door with a loud 'bang'.

The four boys were silent for a minute as Sirius and James pocketed their wand and sat back on the bench.

"Well… that was interesting." James muttered and the others relaxed. Harry noticed that Remus seemed much happier and Harry figured that it was because people stood up for him. To him, it must have been like the final piece of evidence that he'd been accepted.

Conversation for the last two hours of the ride was carefully kept away from the thoughts of the confrontation. The only other notable event was when James went to the loo and came back with a story of how he had to help a short blonde boy up from the floor after he was tripped by an upperclassman.

The train ride was overall a very interesting experience and Harry knew he would always remember it as the first time all of the _real_ marauders were together.


	5. Chapter 5

HELLO! First off, I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to **Fae0306** because I loved your idea of the marauder name! I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the animal you suggested simply because sometimes it seems over-used but I just HAVE to! The name (the second one you suggested) is perfect for the animal and I can't thank you enough :):)

For everyone else, I suppose you could look in the reviews for what she suggested to me but if you don't then I want to keep it a surprise :)

DISCLAIMER: Apparently some blonde Brit owns it. How incredibly unfair.

* * *

Chapter 5

"Firs' years over 'ere!"

The four friends followed a large half-giant named Hagrid over to a collection of boats on the lake. Harry could barely remember when he first rode on the boats; all he could spend his thoughts on was not falling into the water.

Sirius, James, Remus and Harry claimed one of the wooden boats and sat down, waiting for everyone else to settle.

"Are you nervous?" Sirius asked Remus, a teasing lilt to his voice.

"Not really," Remus shrugged, though Harry could see his tense shoulders and knew it was a lie.

Sirius leaned back as well as he could on a boat. "Father told my brother and me how we get sorted. I hope you know enough offensive spells." He cast a feral grin at Remus, whose eyes widened in panic.

"Sirius!" Harry admonished. "You can go off and frighten as many little girls as you want, but don't give Remus a heart attack! He's our new friend; don't scare him off so quickly. I, for one, will be happy to have a sane person around." James and Sirius rolled their eyes.

"How _do_ we get sorted?" Remus asked out of curiosity. James and Harry shrugged.

"Our parents wouldn't tell us. They said something about how giving it away would 'ruin the experience'." James snorted, as if not understanding why the experience was important.

"I seriously doubt it would be anything bad though. I mean, muggleborns wouldn't even know any spells yet, so it can't be a magical test." Harry chimed in.

"And I don't think the very first thing they would do would be to give us a written test." James added and Remus nodded in acceptance.

"So I shouldn't worry?" He asked and they confirmed.

After a long boat ride with everyone admiring the castle once it came into view, the first years were brought to the main doors and Hagrid knocked loudly. Professor McGonagall arrived and let them in.

She said a speech much like the one in Harry's _first_ first year about how the houses were your family and when she was done she rolled her eyes at the "what a lovely speech, Minnie" from James.

However, unlike Harry's first year, the ghosts didn't fly through the halls so there were no scares that way. Sirius and James went around to all of the girls and a few of the guys and started spreading rumors about how the test included battling beasts and performing a complicated spell. Remus stood next to Harry as they did that and the latter rolled his eyes.

"Are they always like this?" Remus asked and then quickly bit his lip.

Harry laughed quietly. "Yeah, pretty much. They're great fun though, and eventually you don't notice how annoying they are." Remus smiled at him and moved a little closer to his side. Soon they were led down to the great hall for the sorting but Remus didn't really get nervous again.

Harry didn't pay much attention at first when the name Avery was called and sorted quickly into Slytherin. However, his attention was drawn back when he heard the second name on the list.

"Black, Sirius!"

All of the older students looked up at Sirius with boredom and returned to eating their food. They expected a Black to be put immediately into Slytherin and therefore didn't waste their time watching.

James and Harry, and to some extent Remus, however, were watching with excitement. They saw as Sirius argued soundlessly with the hat and vehemently shook his head. Harry had no doubt that the hat was telling him that it had never put a Black in Gryffindor and Sirius didn't care. Finally, something Sirius thought must have persuaded the hat because it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall was dead silent before whispers started up. Harry watched as Sirius took the hat off and handed it to Professor McGonagall (who gave him a knowing look and an exasperated sigh) and sauntered over to the Gryffindor table where he collapsed and turned towards them. He sent them a wink and a mouthed "hurry up and join me" before looking around to gauge their classmates' reactions. Harry shook his head, amused, and turned back to where the sorting had resumed.

Lily Evans made Gryffindor quickly and both a boy and girl made Hufflepuff. After that, Remus was called up and he straightened.

Harry was proud when he noticed Remus's hands were only slightly shaking and gave him a reassuring look. "See you on the other side," he mumbled and Remus smiled and made his way to the chair.

He only wore the hat for just over ten seconds when it called out a reluctant "GRYFFINDOR!" and Harry beamed at him. He noticed James also sent him a thumbs up and Sirius made an "over here" motion with his hand.

Two students made it into Ravenclaw and one to Slytherin by the time the P's came around. There was also another Hufflepuff and two girls named Mary and Marlene made Gryffindor. Harry straightened when he heard "Pettigrew, Peter".

He was surprised when he heard James say into his ear, "that's the kid I helped who was being picked on by some fourth years." He said. "He's kind of been following me since we left the boats."

"Not like he had anywhere else to go." Harry reminded him but was secretly annoyed. He knew that Peter practically worshipped James and Harry really didn't want that to happen again.

James rolled his eyes but agreed. "He seems like one of those hopelessly loyal ones. Three galleons says he makes it into Hufflepuff." Harry frowned up at the figure who was just reaching the stool. He realized it probably wasn't fair to take the bet since he knew he made Gryffindor, but then he thought that maybe he only joined the Lion's Den if he had been accepted by the marauders at this point.

"Make it four galleons, I say Gryffindor." James raised his eyebrows but took Harry's offered hand and shook it just as the hat opened its brim.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry smirked and James groaned.

"Pay up, loser."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll give them to you when we get to the dorm." Harry laughed but stood to attention when he heard his name.

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry clapped his brother on the back. "See you in a few!" He said cheerfully and made his way up to the hat and let McGonagall plop it onto his head.

"_Ahh… Harry Potter… so it looks like I've sorted you before, eh? Or, I will sort you? Because I already have, but in reality I haven't yet…_" the hat seemed confused and Harry laughed at it.

"Yeah, yeah… so we both know I'm gonna insist on Gryffindor, but out of curiosity, where should I go?"

"_Hmm… you're much braver than you were last time. And yet, more cunning, too. You have plans to change the future, which certainly requires the ambition of a snake…_"

"If you even consider putting me somewhere other than with my friends, I'll dye you pink."

The hat laughed. "_Yes, yes, you're certainly more foolhardy this time, Mr. Potter. Good luck on your mission._" And to the rest of the room he called out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry joined Sirius and Remus (and unfortunately, Pettigrew) at the red and gold table and smiled. He slapped Sirius's offered hand and turned to watch his twin's sorting. The hat did no more than touch his head until it was calling out "GRYFFINDOR" loudly. The three friends clapped loudly and James joined them.

The rest of the sorting was boring and Harry didn't pay much attention. It wouldn't be until later that week that he realized that Ravenclaw got two more student and Slytherin got three, one of which being Snape. Gryffindor didn't get anymore and neither did Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore said only a few words before the food appeared on the tables and everyone began to eat.

"I told you that you're a Gryffindor, Remus!" Sirius said immediately and the mentioned boy flushed.

"The hat couldn't decide between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, so I asked for it to put me here." He looked around for reactions, as if not sure if that was okay.

"Good!" Harry exclaimed. "It wouldn't be the same without you after spending the train ride together! Hopefully together we can keep these two in line." He jerked his head in Sirius and James' direction and Remus laughed. The werewolf looked at everyone else at the Gryffindor table and his eyes fell on Peter.

"Hello," he said quietly and held out a hand. "My name is Remus, what's yours?"

Peter nervously looked at the offered hand then at the other boys. They were all watching him expectantly so he reached and grasped the hand in a weak grip.

"Peter Pettigrew." He said in a high, squeaky voice. "I'm a pureblood." His eyes shifted nervously as he took in reactions.

Harry frowned. "It doesn't matter to us what your heritage is." At that comment, Harry saw Lily Evans look at him briefly before turning back to the other two girls. Peter cleared his throat and nodded, looking more troubled than he did a few seconds ago.

He turned to James. "You're James Potter, right? Y-you helped me on the train. You saved me."

James shifted in his seat. "I didn't, uh, save you. I just figured they shouldn't pick on someone younger than them."

"W-well thank you anyways! I appreciate it, I really do!" James was obviously uncomfortable. He usually enjoyed being praised, but for some reason this was more than just gratitude.

"Yeah, Jamsie is quite the hero, isn't he?" Sirius interrupted and scooted closer to James's side. He looked suspiciously at Peter before turning back to his food.

After that, Pettigrew seemed more reserved and Harry almost felt bad but couldn't. He didn't bother trying to deny that he didn't want Peter in the group. He was trying too hard to suck up to James and Harry found it annoying. The only thing calming him was the fact that Sirius seemed to be feeling the same thing.

After dinner finished and the dessert dishes were cleared, Dumbledore stood.

"I have just a few announcements for the start-of-term… there is a list of banned items on Mr. Filch's door. Quidditch tryouts will be left to be planned by this year's captains. Finally, there is a new tree that has been planted on school grounds that is very dangerous. If going anywhere nears the whomping willow, I advise you to take necessary precautions. If that is all, would the prefects please lead the students out of the hall and I hope you have a nice year."

Harry listened with interest at the mentioning of the willow and cast a discreet look at Remus. He was studying his fingernails intently and Harry shook his head.

Some fifth year girl walked up and asked the students to follow her and they did so. As the group walked through the hallways, Sirius began making faces at the portraits. James saw what he was doing and followed suit.

After watching as one lady dropped her drink with an offended gasp after James made a particularly nasty face, Harry walked over.

"You know, it probably isn't a very good idea to affront the portraits."

"Oh yeah? Tell me why that is." Sirius answered.

"Getting on good terms with portraits could be useful. Here, watch." He stepped over to one picture containing a lady with too much make-up on. "You look absolutely gorgeous with that eye shadow, my lady. May I request a name of which I should call you?" The lady giggled like a school girl and batted her eyelashes.

"My name is Esmeralda, young man. I thank you for a wonderful compliment."

"Esmeralda: a beautiful name for an equally beautiful woman." She blushed and covered her face and Harry resumed his walking. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all looking at him in confusion.

"That did that do? What did you get out of it?" James asked and Harry gave him a self-satisfied grin.

"Now next time I'm looking for someone, I can just go to her portrait and ask her if she's seen that person I'm describing. If you do it right, you can get pictures all over the school to do spying for you so therefore you'll always have a way of finding people." Sirius looked impressed.

"That's very… sneaky of you." Then he looked excited. "Jamsie, you know what this means? That can be super helpful when trying to plan pranks on certain people!"

Harry turned towards him with a warning look. "If you even think about using the portraits against me, I'll string you and hang you in the common room as a chandelier." Sirius gulped and nodded even though everyone knew Harry was just joking. Hopefully.

A few minutes later the first years walked through the portrait of the Fat Lady and marveled at the red and gold common room. "It's a lot bigger than I expected." James said with wonder and everyone agreed. The red wasn't bright, it was more of a deep crimson color that should feel creepy but was more calming than anything. There was a fire lit in the large stone fireplace against the wall that cast a golden glow on the room and made everyone warm and comfortable. The five first years made their way to the stairs on the left and walked up only one flight to get to their dormitory.

There were five beds with trunks in front of them in the large room. On the left side there was Sirius and Remus while on the right side there was Peter, Harry and James. Harry let out a whoop and ran to his bed. "PERI!" He shouted and clutched his cat close. He would've had her with him but she was sent up with trunks and other pets once they got off of the train.

"I-is that a cat?" Peter asked fearfully and Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"She's a just a kitten, why? Are you allergic?" Peter shook his head.

"N-no, it's just… cats don't really… like me v-very much." Harry looked down at the black ball of fluff in his hands.

"Peri wouldn't hurt a fly!" He protested and petted her lovingly. _Although she doesn't like rats very much_ he added in his mind. "But if you'd prefer, I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere near you." Peter nodded and went off to go through his trunk. Harry looked up at Remus. "Would she bother you?" He asked and Remus hesitated before shaking his head.

"She won't bother me at all, no. I'm more worried that I'll bother her though. Cats have never liked me so I doubt she will either." Harry knew why he thought this, but he also knew it wouldn't be a problem.

"You don't have to worry. Peri likes everyone I like. You and she will get along fine." He grinned and put his kitten back on his bed.

"Hey, Ry!" Sirius called and Harry looked up at him.

"Yes?" He asked questioningly.

"Jamie and I are planning our first prank and are trying to figure out whom to play it on! Who do you think?" Harry hummed and fell back onto his bed, deep in thought.

"I would say to do one on McGonagall, but I'd rather not get detention on the first day." Remus looked up in shock.

"You would prank a teacher?" He asked in surprise and the others laughed.

"Only Minnie," James corrected. "Though it would be best not to until later in the year. I say we prank the slimy Slytherins!" Sirius yelled in agreement and Harry sighed.

"Not all of them, James. Some of them could be good, you never know."

"Slytherins are evil, Harry, you know that!" Harry shook his head.

"Evil people are evil. James, we're all teenagers in this school. Is it really possible for some 12 and 13 year olds to be evil?"

"That Snape is evil." James said and Harry sighed again in defeat.

"Prank Snape then." He said and Sirius and James exchanged looks of excitement.

"Are you going to help, Ry?" Sirius asked and Harry relented.

"Who else is going to give you lot any good ideas?" He said somewhat forced. "Would you like to help, Remus?" He didn't ask Peter because he was on his bed and his curtains were closed.

"I… I don't really know if I should. I don't want to get in trouble…"

Sirius looked at the brunette and jutted out his lower lip. James and Harry both looked away when they recognized the puppy eyes. "Please Remy? We want you to help… and if you get in trouble, James will take the blame for you!" James let out an indignant 'hey!' but Sirius ignored it.

Remus hesitated for only a moment more before smiling. "I suppose I'd like to help, if you'd let me."

The three other friends gave wide grins and scooted closer together to plan the perfect first prank.


	6. Chapter 6

Another chapter! I don't know where I'm going with this story... I should probably come up with some sort of plot...

Disclaimer: still isn't mine

* * *

Harry woke up the next morning to the quiet sounds of feet crossing the floor. He blearily opened his eyes and saw Remus heading towards the bathrooms. The black-haired boy turned and looked at the window where the sun was shining through and decided to get up. He stumbled out of bed and tiptoed over to James's bed and shook him.

"James… wake up! You owe me four galleons, pay me!" James groaned and rolled over, never opening his eyes. Harry rolled his and circled the bed until he was staring at James once more. "James, James, James, James… do you really want me to get Sirius and have him wake you up?" Those words made James blink his eyes open and he leveled Harry with a glare.

"You wouldn't dare." He muttered but Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really want to test me?" He asked and James looked at him for a moment more.

"You're the worst brother in the world." He complained and pushed himself out of the bed.

"But you love me for it!" Harry sang and walked cheerfully over to Sirius's bed, much more awake than he had been minutes before.

"That doesn't even make sense." James grumbled quietly but Harry wasn't listening anymore.

"Siri, Siri, Siri, Sirius!" Harry poked him in the nose repeatedly. "Get up you great lard." Sirius snorted and threw one of his pillows at Harry.

"I am pretty great, aren't I?" He asked with a grin and Harry shook his head in exasperation. He knew that at this point, James would move slowly around the room and it would take him a further forty-five minutes to get really. He also knew that Sirius would sleep for thirty of those minutes and then wake up and run around the room in a mad dash, trying to get ready in time for breakfast.

So Harry let them do their routine and walked over to his trunk. He pulled out a pair of comfortable pants and a shirt, along with a pair of his school robes, which were now trimmed in red and had the Gryffindor crest on them. Harry walked over to the bathrooms, where Remus had walked out a minute beforehand and went in to change and relieve himself.

Harry smiled and said a warm good morning to Remus when he passed him on his way back to his trunk. In his past life, Harry had never been a morning person. However, when he lived with James, he had to get up early lest they both sleep in until noon. The only days that James got up before Harry was their birthday and Christmas.

Harry watched as Remus hesitantly woke up Peter fifteen minutes later. The blond boy squeaked in surprise and ran off to change in the bathroom, blushing heavily.

It wasn't much later that the group of five boys was making their way down to the common room. Sirius was stumbling as they walked down the steps, swaying dangerously, and Harry held in his snort of amusement. James was trailing behind Sirius with his head and shoulders slumped, still obviously tired. Remus, Peter and Harry were all just quietly walking behind them as they reached the portrait door.

They continued on to the great hall and James managed to fully wake himself up by the time they got there. He was laughing quietly as he nudged Sirius every few seconds, causing the slightly older boy to stumble precariously before righting his feet, only to be nudged again.

The boys sat down at the table and grabbed food and beverage. "Are you going to cast the spell, Jamsie?" Sirius asked and Harry interjected.

"Don't do it yet. If you do it now, it will be obvious that we did it. Wait another two minutes or so and then cast it, so it looks like someone else did it." Sirius nodded in approval.

James, however, frowned. "But what if I want recognition? We could be known for the pranks!" Harry was thoughtful.

"Well, we could come up with a name for ourselves." He was thinking of how they ended up with the 'marauders' as their nickname, he would just have them get it a little sooner. "And we could use a symbol on all of our pranks. That way everyone will know the same group of people did it, but they won't know who the group consists of. Though you aren't very discreet, so I suppose they'll catch on. But that's even better because then they just _know_ it's us, but we never have to confirm or deny it!"

Harry was excited and everyone else couldn't help but get excited too. Peter didn't seem to know what they were talking about, but he also wasn't really listening. Harry figured he would know it was them who were playing the pranks; the raven-haired boy just really didn't want him to be a part of it. Harry didn't care much about what happened to him in this timeline. As long as he wasn't the secret keeper, he wasn't going to pay much attention.

But the time Harry was done talking about his idea James had his wand out and was pointing it at the door. He was being careful not to let anyone see it as he casted a powerful tripping jinx on the floor surrounding the door so that no one could get in – or out – without tripping. Harry noticed Dumbledore watching them with his damned twinkle, but knew that James wouldn't be getting into any trouble.

Harry knew that he could probably cast a better tripping jinx but he let James play the role as the one who pulled off the pranks. Besides, it would be weird if he could do a perfect jinx on his first try; instead they had James practicing it for an hour last night.

It was another ten seconds before a group of Ravenclaw girls opened the doors of the great hall and promptly tripped over each other and on to the floor. Everyone in the hall stopped their conversations and started laughing as the six girls stood and brushed themselves off with lowered heads and red faces.

James gave Sirius a fist bump under the table and winked at both Remus and Harry, who were across from them. A few seconds later some Slytherin students arrived too, one of which was a third year Lucius Malfoy. Harry unconsciously sad a little straighter and he saw Sirius do the same. Laugher rang out again when every one of them tripped and landed on their faces. It was even funnier when a Gryffindor couple was walking into the hall and was too preoccupied with each other to notice the bodies on the floor. Therefore, they ended up sprawled on top of them and the Slytherins began shrieking and trying to shove them off.

It was then and only then that people realized something was going on so the prefects stood and walked towards the doors. They were moving around nervously and waving their hand at people wanting to get in and have breakfast. No one understood what the commotion was about so people kept walking in and ending up on the ground.

The hall was in hysterics and even Remus was having a good time. When Harry asked what he thought, he replied that he was just happy no one was getting seriously injured. Last night they realized they didn't know any good spells to use to curse Snape and therefore decided to prank the school. Once they knew a good, harmless prank to use against Snape they would do it to get back at him for calling them bloodtraitors and mudbloods.

When Professor McGonagall came around with their schedules, she gave James, Sirius and Harry a pointed look and just stared at them, as if waiting for them to admit to it.

"Fine morning we're having, isn't it Minnie?" James asked instead. She merely shook her head but later Sirius would claim that he had seen her trying not to smile.

James was excited when he learned that the first class would be transfiguration with the Slytherins. He read the book for it already and grasped the idea of transfiguring items rather quickly. He was looking forward to the prospect of showing up a bunch of "slimy snakes".

When breakfast was done, the tripping jinx had yet to be removed and everyone looked towards Dumbledore. He just hummed merrily and acted as if he had no idea what they wanted him to do. With a sigh, McGonagall undid the jinx and everyone went to their classes happily.

The five boys walked towards the transfiguration room. Sirius and James were gushing over the success of the prank while the others walked quietly. Harry occasionally asked Remus or Peter a question such as if they were looking forward to classes.

Finally they got to the classroom (Harry had to restrain himself from going directly there and instead they got lost three times) and Harry noticed only half of the class was there. They took their seats – Harry and James in the back left seats and Remus and Sirius in the seats in front of them – and Harry looked around. The room was much like in the future and Harry had to hold back a smirk at the cat that was perched on McGonagall's desk. He pitied whoever was late.

Sure enough, when it became time for class to start, there were still two Gryffindor girls missing. It was another three minutes later until they came running in. Mary and Marlene – the only other first year Gryffindor girls besides Lily – looked at each other and smiled smugly when they realized the teacher was there. It was then that McGonagall decided to show up.

Everyone other than Harry gasped when the cat on the desk was suddenly their transfigurations professor.

"Minnie! Why didn't you tell me?" James cried out in mock outrage but McGonagall just ignored him.

"You are three minutes late, Miss McKinnon, Miss Macdonald. Take your seats, we are ready to begin." The girls nodded, thankful for not receiving punishment, and sat down. McGonagall began a long rant about the properties of transfiguration and how it could be helpful and hurtful. It lasted just over an hour long and with the remaining time, McGonagall passed out matchsticks and asked if anyone could turn theirs into a needle.

James took his and began the spell right away, trying to focus as best as he could to show his skill in the subject. It was about ten minutes later that he got it to work and he shouted in victory. Professor McGonagall came rushing over and proudly gave him ten points for a perfect transformation. After he got it, Harry let himself actually _try_ to do the spell right and became the second person in the room to get it. In her elation, McGonagall gave Gryffindor five more points.

No one else turned their matchstick completely by the time class was over, though Remus, Sirius, Lily, and unfortunately Snape all got the ends of theirs pointy.

There were two more classes that day: herbology and charms.

Harry struggled through herbology. They were dealing with some magical plant that for the life of him, Harry couldn't remember what it was called. He had never covered it with Professor Sprout and therefore had no idea what he was doing. The professor for this timeline was an average man with a bushy mustache and expressive eyes. He was nice enough, but his enthusiasm irked Harry.

He was good at what he did, but wasn't great at telling students how to do it. They were supposed to chop the leaves – which were used in most sleeping potions – while they were still connected to the plant. It was exhausting and after class was over and they were sitting down at the great hall for lunch, it was all Harry could do not to fall asleep.

The other boys had similar thoughts so lunch was a quiet affair. At one point, Lily turned to them and congratulated James and Harry for turning their matchsticks into needles. James puffed his chest out and accepted the praises while Harry thanked her quietly and turned away. She seemed upset that she wasn't able to change her matchstick and Harry fondly thought back to Hermione.

"I don't have my charms book on me, I'm gonna go to the common room to get it. Anyone else need to get theirs?" James asked and the other boys rummaged through their bags.

"I need mine." Remus spoke quietly from Harry's side.

"Great, you can come with." James said easily and threw his arm around Remus's shoulders. "We'll meet you at the classroom, come on Remus." Harry watched as they walked away and Sirius looked at Harry.

"So what do you think of him?" He asked quietly and Harry pondered the question.

"I like him. I expected him to be a lot more rule-abiding when we met him on the train, but he let us do the prank and even slightly encouraged it." Sirius nodded while in thought.

"He's quiet and we're going to have to break him from that habit. Also," he lowered his voice and looked over at the pudgy boy two seats down from Harry where he was sitting next to Remus before he left. "What do you think of Peter?"

"I'm not sure about him yet." _He's not a traitor yet, Harry. Give him a chance._ "We haven't gotten to know him. Do you think we should try harder and find out more of what he's like?"

Sirius looked down at his food. "I don't think I trust him, Ry. He seems too dependent on us already. On _James_ already. Have you noticed how he stares at him? It's like- like- some kind of-" he faltered, not knowing what words he was looking for.

"Hero worship?" Harry supplied and he nodded.

"It's exactly like that and it annoys me. You and James, you guys are my only friends. I think Remus is trustworthy and so I think he could be my friend too. But Peter… I feel like he only wants James. Like he wants to be his best friend and he doesn't want us there too."

Harry looked away. He hadn't really noticed the small details. Sirius, having been raised a Black, was the perceptive one of the three boys. He walked around and acted as though he was oblivious but was really very in tune to how events played out. The fact that he noticed all of this in Peter in _first year_ made Harry believe that Peter would only ruin things if he was closer to the group.

At that conclusion, Sirius and Harry (and Peter) stood from the table and made their way through the corridors to the charms classroom, which they managed to find correctly the first time. Remus and James were already sitting, looking as though they had been there for ages even though Harry doubted it was for more than a minute or two.

They were sitting together so Sirius and Harry took the seats in front of them and turned to face them.

"I hope you didn't get lost?" Harry said it as a question.

James grinned and shook his head. "Nah, we knew where we were going. Although Remus here tried to lead us astray…" He trailed up and Remus turned red with embarrassment. Harry leaned closer to him and shook his head.

"Don't listen to him; he's just trying to seem like the savior. If anything, James has always been terrible with directions. If you got lost, it was purely his fault." James cried out and clutched his chest and Harry snorted. "Isn't that right, Siri?" He asked and the boy in question nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Jamie, but it's true. I remember when we were in Diagon Alley and Ry told you to go four stores down and you went six. You're truly awful, mate."

"That's not fair! I was tired and-"

"Forgot how to count?" James pouted petulantly and everyone else laughed – even Remus.

A few seconds later, Professor Flitwick arrived and class began. He wanted to begin practical learning right away so the class started on the first spell they would learn: the levitation charm.

Harry wasn't at all surprised when Remus got it right on the first try. He thought about the whomping willow tree and how he had to levitate a stick and poke a knob to get in. It only made sense that Dumbledore had Remus know the charm like the back of his hand and could therefore do it right his first try.

Flitwick was thrilled and gave Gryffindor fifteen points. Harry waited only about five minutes more before he decided to do it right too. He didn't want to be the top of the classes and take the spots that belonged to his parents and their friends the first time around. Therefore, he decided he would just be second in all of his classes.

Lily got it a minute after Harry did and began helping anyone who asked for it. The class was with Ravenclaw and didn't want to accept help so only two girls asked for assistance. With Lily's help, they both achieved it by the end of the class as well as Sirius, Mary, and two more Ravenclaws. James was frustrated and couldn't get it. Harry secretly couldn't wait until James had a crush on Lily so that Harry could convince him to ask her to tutor him.

After charms class, the group gravitated back to the common room where they lounged on a group of sofas near the fireplace. James put himself on the largest one and stretched out so he was lying across the whole thing. Sirius scoffed and sat on James's stomach, making the younger boy complain dramatically about how heavy Sirius was.

Harry sat on a smaller sofa that was meant for two people and took up very little space. Remus was intrigued by how small he could make himself look and didn't realize he was staring until James spoke up.

"He's always done that." He said and Remus jumped, startled. James continued on as if he hadn't noticed. "Harry always liked sitting on big things and making himself as small as possible. He has a really big blue chair at home – Siri, you know the one I'm talking about," Sirius hummed noncommittally but James continued, unperturbed. "It's huge and really comfortable and Harry just sits in a corner of it and looks tiny. I don't know why, but I've never bothered to ask. Harry has a lot of quirks about him. I'm his twin and I'm still discovering some."

Remus sat back and watched Harry a moment longer. The raven-haired boy was a mystery, and Remus always liked mysteries. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he just _knew_ they could end up being really good friends.

* * *

A/N hey, do you guys have any ideas for pranks? It would be really helpful! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi all! I'm not sure where I'm going with this story...

Disclaimer: I don't do Jo's characters any justice.

* * *

CHAPTER 7

The next day started out much like the first one had. Remus and Harry were awake first, they woke up the others, and they went to breakfast. There wasn't any spectacular prank during breakfast and there were no confrontations. The only thing that was frightening was the letter Sirius got from his father that said that his mother was too angry to write and that he was going to regret becoming a lion when he got home. Sirius didn't exactly tell them this… in fact; he read the letter quickly and stuffed it in his bag away from view. But Harry could tell by his pale face that it was along those lines.

There were only two classes that day, and they happened to also be the two he was most and least looking forward to. The first class was potions and after lunch was a double period of defense against the dark arts, both with the Slytherins.

James groaned and complained the whole way to the classroom in the dungeons and Sirius seemed to agree with him.

"It's awful because I live with a family of potions fanatics. My family is dark and therefore is expected to be great at brewing." Sirius moaned in despair and took a table in the back.

"Stop complaining, Sirius, you're great at brewing potions too." Harry reminded him.

"That makes it worse! I can totally show those snakes I'm just as good as them, but then I would bring pride to my name, _which I really don't want to do_." Harry understood then his dilemma. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to help.

"Well, Harry's still right. You're great at potions. So nudge over and be my partner so you can make a good one for us." Sirius smiled a little and let James sit down next to him.

"Are you any good at making potions?" Harry asked Remus as he sat and the brunette took the seat next to him.

"I don't know, I suppose I'm decent. My mother taught me how when I was young, but we've never had very many ingredients to use." Harry nodded and smiled.

"I'm awful at potions. The only good thing is that I didn't want to be the worst so I made all of the first year potions countless times. Now I think I could probably do them in my sleep." Remus smiled kindly.

They had already heard from a Hufflepuff that they would make the cure for boils potion in class that day so Harry pulled out the necessary ingredients from his bag and set them on the table. James and Sirius did the same and no one else in the room noticed.

Professor Slughorn walked in at this point and addressed the class. He made a lame speech about how brewing is dangerous and everyone should be careful. Harry realized quickly that Slughorn was quite the pushover and anyone could suck up to him. He told the students to get their components from the storage room and everyone but the four friends went to do so.

The friends, however, began measuring their snake teeth and crushing their flobberworms. Remus and Harry got into a pattern where Remus, who had a much steadier hand, would deal with the more delicate ingredients and the heat of the fire while Harry dealt with the others and with the stirring.

Even with the extra time, Remus and Harry ended up as the third ones done. Snape, who was working alone, was done first and Sirius and James were second by only a minute. No cauldrons exploded, thankfully, but only about half of the class made acceptable potions.

When leaving the room, Snape gave Sirius a superior look and the latter just glared back. James, however, didn't take kindly to the look and sent a discreet, low-level stinging hex at Snape. Harry winced and vowed not to tell their father, since he taught the twins that hex and told them not to use it as a prank or against someone who didn't deserve it.

Somehow, Snape knew it was James who sent the hex and he rounded on him. "I don't know who you think you are, Potter, but stay out of matters that don't concern you."

"When you're doing something wrong I'm going to include myself, Snape." The Slytherin sneered and turned, walking off into the crowds.

The group walked leisurely to the DADA classroom and took seats in the middle of the classroom. Harry was excited; this was the only class that he was allowing himself to be the best.

The defense teacher, a young woman named Morcia Mallinway, was overly cheerful and seemed to never run out of energy. She didn't go in to any lectures, but instead taught them a very low-level pinching hex – a similar spell to the one James used on Snape. Harry got it right the first time and everyone else in the class quickly followed. By the end of the first block, everyone could do the spell when commanded. For the second half of the class, everyone had to pair up and take turns casting the spell while dodging the ones sent at you.

Harry was already sitting next to Remus and they decided to be partners. When they stood across from each other, Harry quickly sent the hex right at Remus's arm. He moved and sent one back at Harry's shin.

It went on like that for only a few minutes until Harry decided to do better and pretended to send a hex at the brunette's left leg, only to _actually_ send it at his right one. Remus let out a small yelp and looked up to where Harry was grinning in satisfaction. Remus cocked his head and threw a spell towards Harry's torso and he couldn't _quite_ dodge it in time and it pinched his side.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Remus and really sent two hexes this time, which wasn't really allowed but oh well. Remus was hit with both of them and his eyes narrowed, taking on a challenging look that Harry hadn't yet seen on the sandy-haired boy. Remus also sent Harry two hexes and Harry only managed to dodge the first one.

After that, it was a flurry of pinching hexes and dodging between the two Gryffindors and they tuned out everyone else in the room. Harry was doing really well due to him having the mind of a twenty-something year old while Remus was using his heightened reflexes to dodge and retaliate. Neither noticed when the rest of the class stopped and backed away from the chaos, while watching with awe at the quickness they were showing while throwing hexes.

It wasn't until Harry was tired and aimed slightly off that they refocused on their environment. Harry was aiming for Remus's leg but missed and he heard an outraged "hey!" from a very indignant Sirius Black, who was holding his foot in his hands.

"Damn, Ry that hurt! How much power were you putting into those?" Harry stood straight and looked around the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Remus doing the same thing. Everyone was at least five feet away and was staring slack-jawed at the two boys who were breathing heavily in the center of the room.

"Brilliant! Oh, that was simply wonderful! Twenty points to Gryffindor for that impressive performance Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin! Your dodging skills were excellent and you had so much power in your spells… oh, it was terrific! Now, I hope everyone was paying close attention to what just happened in front of you…" Professor Mallinway talked on but Harry wasn't listening. James and Sirius (and yes, Peter too) walked up to where Remus and Harry were and started whispering in rushed voices.

"Merlin, you two were great!" James gushed and Sirius nodded his agreement.

"You guys were super quick! Damn Remus, where'd you learn to dodge like that?"

"Where did _you_ learn to aim that well Harry?" James looked at him will raised eyebrows.

"And I'm standing by what I said earlier, Ry. That hex was _powerful_! How did you stand those, Rem?" Remus shifted awkwardly at the comments and Harry realized it was probably only due to his high pain tolerance that he could take more than a handful of the pinching hexes.

"We just got caught up in it." Harry answered for them and Remus agreed half-heartedly.

Eventually everyone else got sidetracked and Harry and Remus went back to casting a curse and dodging the one being thrown at them. The rest of the class went by smoothly and Remus was quick to escape from the room, with Harry only a little behind him. He wasn't sure where Remus went but when Sirius and James came out of the classroom, he didn't bother finding out and instead followed them to the common room to begin on homework.

Harry finished before the others and said he was going to look for a book in the library. While he was doing his work, he realized that Remus would probably be there and would claim a table that he would continue to use for the next seven years. Harry didn't have a reason for going after Remus; he just wanted to spend as much time around him as he does the others so he wouldn't feel left out.

Harry made his way to the library and started thing about what kind of out-of-school researching he could do. He really wanted to learn as much as could about other types of magic in order to use it to his advantage. However, the raven-haired boy was worried people would get suspicious at the high levels of reading he would be doing. So Harry figured he could start with his school subjects and year and read those, and work his way up until he completely read all seven years' worth of books. He suspected that it would only take him first year and maybe half of second year to do so – then and only then would Harry allow himself to read up on other magics that interested him.

So Harry had a few of his books in his bag and entered the library and set off to scout down Remus and sit with him. When he finally found the werewolf, he was at a small table meant for four people accompanied by a familiar redhead. Harry walked closer and sat down at the seat next to Remus, who was across from first year Lily Evans.

"Hullo Remus." Harry said calmly and the shy boy looked up.

"Hi Harry, did you finish your homework?" The other boy nodded.

"Yes, I just finished. Have you done yours?" Remus shrugged and motioned towards a pile of parchment on the table.

"I've done most of it. Right now I'm researching the importance of intent when using transfiguration." Harry nodded and went to say something when the girl across from them spoke up.

"I think that's fascinating. Do you ever wonder if maybe spells are completely unnecessary? I mean, maybe if you just really want something to happen enough, it will? Kind of like accidental magic." The two boys looked at each other and Harry spoke up.

"I think it's entirely possible. The only problem is that most spells are born from Latin, which is a magical language within itself."

Remus cut in. "And really what you're thinking of it wandless magic, which is only actually done by the most powerful of wizards and witches. Anyone could probably produce a wandless _lumos_ if they wanted to because it's such a simple spell. However, most spells require more magic than that and therefore to produce the spells they would need a wand as a focus and words as kind of like a switch to access the magic."

Lily was caught up in her thoughts for a few minutes before nodding in acceptance. "That makes sense, I guess. Where did you learn all of that from?" Remus picked a book out of the pile of about six he had next to him. He put it on the table and slid it towards the redhead. I quick glance at the cover told Harry that it was _Magical Origins and Their Significance_ by Brenda Bryndol. Lily looked at it in interest and Harry decided to speak again.

"You're Lily Evans, right? The girl from the train. I'm sorry for how my friends and I reacted; it was awfully rude of us." Lily looked pleased at the apology and stuck out a hand. Harry took it with a smile.

"Yes I am, and you're one of the Potter twins. Although I'm sorry to say I don't remember which one." She looked bashful and Harry grinned widely.

"That's alright, I'm Harry. James is my uglier brother with the glasses." Remus bit his lip to contain his grin and Lily stifled her giggles.

"Would he be mad at you for saying that?" She asked with a curious smile.

Harry snorted. "I don't have to worry about that if he never finds out." He gave them both pointed looks and they laughed again. After that, the three students did their work in a compatible silence. It lasted for close to two hours until Snape arrived and stood stiffly next to Lily.

"Sev! Take a seat!" She offered and gestured to the remaining seat. He didn't move and instead stared untrustingly towards Remus and Harry.

Harry knew that Snape didn't like any of the first year Gryff boys and he wondered if it was possible to have a relationship that wasn't merely insults and hatred. Harry decided to be the brave lion and stood and offered a hand for Snape to shake.

"I'm Harry Potter." He said formally while waiting to see if he would take the hand. Snape took his eyes off of Harry's face to look at it for a moment before turning away. He was going to say something to Lily but she cut him off.

"Severus! That isn't nice, you should shake his hand." Harry shook his head and sat down.

"No, that's fine Lily, he doesn't need to do anything." Harry went back to his book and let Lily talk with Severus. They spoke quietly for a few minutes, Harry only hearing little snippets about how Lily shouldn't spend her time around so many Gryffindors (conveniently forgetting that she is one).

After about five minutes of that, Lily stood up with a huff and excused both herself and Snape and dragged him off somewhere, most likely to get mad at him for saying everything he did in front of some of her housemates. After they left, Harry stood up and stretched. He turned to Remus, "I think I'm gonna head off too. It must be getting close to dinner time, so we should probably meet up with the others. Unless, of course, you'd rather stay here, which you could if you'd like." He stopped awkwardly and Remus shook his head.

"No, I've done everything I needed to, we can go." Harry hummed in acknowledgement and waited next to the table for Remus to clean up his books and papers. A few minutes later, they walked out of the library and towards the tower.

"So which classes do you prefer so far?" He asked and waited for Remus to think and answer.

"I don't know, DADA maybe. Professor Mallinway is very engaging." He said nicely and Harry quirked a grin.

"She's also very over-excited." He said factually and Remus blushed.

"Well, yes, I guess that too. But her love of the subject rubs off on you!" He insisted his point and Harry decided to agree with him.

"Your reflexes were awfully quick, by the way." Remus tensed but forced himself to relax as to not draw attention. "I commend you on that."

"I, uh, thank you. I guess I'm always been light on my feet." He tried to play it off as nothing unusual and Harry let him. After a minute, they reached the portrait and Harry said the password, _valor,_ and they entered the room. The other boys weren't in the common room so they ventured upstairs and opened the door to their dorm.

They were greeted to the sight of James clad in only his boxers while he searched frantically through his trunk and Sirius passed out on his bed. Peter was sitting with a book in his hand but seemed to be continually looking up at James – not in a weird I'm-looking-at-you-because-you're-half-naked kind of way, but more like he was keeping tabs on him to make sure he didn't go anywhere without him.

Harry didn't like that and walked over to Sirius while talking to his brother. "James, what are you doing?" He asked and the older twin cried out in frustration.

"I can't find my blue shirt!" He howled and Harry raised his eyebrow in disbelief.

"You have like 10 blue shirts, wear a different one."

"But that one's my favorite!" Harry rolled his eyes and nudged Sirius, who groaned and batted his hands away.

"Well then wear the red one you like so much. We have to hurry, dinner starts in about ten minutes." James sighed as he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be wearing the shirt he wanted to wear. Harry poked Sirius firmly in the side and Sirius jumped away from the offending hand. That action made him fall off of the bed and he landed on the floor, where he abruptly woke up. His head shot up and he glared at Harry, who ignored him.

"Get up, you lazy dog." Harry couldn't help it and smiled at himself. "Or would you prefer to stay here and miss dinner?" Sirius perked up.

"Food?"

"Yes, you idiot: food." He happily got up and the group traveled down to go to dinner and finish their second day at Hogwarts.


	8. Chapter 8

You read. Me need sleep. Now. This story? Characters no mine. Plot mine. Kinda.

* * *

Chapter 8

Their time at Hogwarts went quickly for the group of first year Gryffindor boys. By the end of the first week, they had been to every class at least twice and were getting used to the teachers. Flitwick and Mallinway were the favorites, though everyone knew not to get on McGonagall's bad side. Harry, personally, found himself hesitant to like Professor Mallinway too much. While she was a decent teacher, and certainly not bad like many of his previous ones, he simply couldn't take her seriously. She wasn't weak, but her cheerful disposition kept him wondering how many encounters she had with dark creatures. He himself knew that the more time one would spend with them, the more detached and depressed they grew.

While James and Harry were twins, it was really James and Sirius who were best friends and Harry was always the plus one. When at first people would see 'The Potter Twins and Sirius' it slowly became 'James and Sirius (and oh yeah, Harry is there too)'. Because of this, Harry began to spend more time with Remus and, by extension, Lily. James was very smart, but didn't actively try to do well on his homework and Sirius was better at practical aspects of magic. Harry, however, was going through his school years for the second time, so Remus and Lily – who were hard-working and intelligent – were much closer to his level.

Harry liked to study with Remus. The werewolf was quiet and knew that Harry sometimes preferred not to be bothered. Harry liked to talk with Lily. Due to her being a muggleborn, she had a different view on most things magical. Harry also ran into Snape a few times but they never spoke. James and Sirius had chosen him as a main target so Snape was doing all he could to keep away from first year Gryffindor boys. Sirius and James couldn't be happier about this, while Harry and Remus couldn't help feeling a bit bad.

But soon it was Saturday and the first week was over. Sirius, James, Harry, Remus and Peter were all in the common room lounging on a group of sofas and talking about whatever.

"Ry, did you see Jamsie in transfiguration today? He totally got that before everyone else!"

"You know if James keeps showing off, he's gonna make himself some enemies."

"Oh come on, Harry! Just because others are sore that they aren't as good as me-"

"It would be fine if you just got it and sat down with that stupid grin on your face. But no, you have to stand up and act like the best thing that's happened to the world since heating charms-"

"If you're talking about Snape getting pissed off, that wasn't my fault!"

"You _specifically_ looked at Snape and smiled smugly at him. And then you wonder why Evans hates you."

"Why does she choose to spend time with slimy snakes anyways?" Harry sighed and looked up to his brother when he kept talking.

"Snakes are cunning and very difficult to catch. Calling someone a snake isn't exactly an insult – especially if it's their mascot. Now, please sit down and do your homework."

"Aw, come on Harry, why don't you just do mine for me?" James tried out the puppy-eyes but he couldn't ever seem to do them well. Sirius was the only one who mastered the pleading puppy-eyes perfectly, and Harry knew exactly why that was.

"No"

Remus wisely stayed quiet throughout this conversation while Sirius spoke again, the first time since he brought the topic up. "If you won't do his, you should do mine!"

"I'm not doing anyone's homework!"

"But haven't you already completed yours? You surely must be bored." Sirius gave his doggish grin and Harry contemplated it.

"You're right, I am bored. Remus, want to play a game of chess with me?" Sirius's jaw dropped and he scrunched his face up.

"That's no fair!" He pouted and Harry shrugged. Remus looked at the book he was reading and flipped a few pages to see how long he had until the chapter ended.

"Could you wait for about five minutes, Harry? I'm almost done with this chapter and I'd really like to finish it before dinner…" He looked nervous and Harry beamed at the fact that Remus was speaking more and asking for more indulgences.

"Of course, Rem, I'll go get my pieces and I'll set it up right here. Join me when you're done."

A few minutes later, Harry and Remus started their game and James and Sirius were grumbling while trying to do their homework.

"So Remy-"

"_Work_, Sirius."

"Aw, come on, Ry! I can't focus when that's all I'm doing. I need to do two things at once. So Remy, are you homesick?" Remus shrugged and moved his knight to take one of Harry's pawns.

"A little, but not really. Not _yet_, at least. But it's only been a week and I haven't ever been away from my parents for more than a few days at a time so I might soon." Sirius hummed a little and wrote another sentence while thinking of what to say.

"Well I guess that's good. What about you two?" James and Harry both looked up for a moment before returning to their activities – James was looking up qualities of Doxys and Harry was contemplating how to get Remus to sacrifice his rook.

"I don't miss them much yet. I mean, I have you guys here so it really kind of makes up for it." James said and snapped his book shut with an audible huff. "Do any of you know where Doxys are found?"

Peter spoke up for the first time and everyone turned to look at him. "E-Europe, I think."

"Northern Europe and America, but you were partly right." Remus corrected, giving Peter an encouraging smile.

"I don't miss mum and dad because I know I'll see them soon enough." Harry turned the conversation back to where it was before. "What about you, Peter? Are you homesick?" He didn't want to ask Sirius because he knew the answer already.

"N-no, I can handle being by myself!" He tried to make himself look like he was sure but still only looked scared. Sirius looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"We never said you couldn't, Peter." The small blond boy blushed and nodded rapidly, showing he understood. Harry could tell Sirius still didn't like Peter much. The most obvious clue was the fact that he didn't have a nickname. When Sirius accepted someone, he began to mostly call that person by their nickname. James was typically Jamsie or Jamie-boy, Harry was Ry, and Remus was Remy. Peter, however, was still Peter. Harry was only a little ashamed of the fact that he was very happy about it.

Harry groaned when Remus moved his white pawn to take Harry's black one. That just ruined his plan!

"Do you miss your home Sirius?" Peter asked and Harry spared a glance at Sirius to see how he reacted. He frowned slightly but didn't give any more signs of being uncomfortable.

"I miss Regulus sometimes, even though he was a bit of a brat."

"Well, you _would_ prank him and blame him on most things. Why _wouldn't_ he be a little mad at you most of the time?" Harry asked reasonably while moving his knight to take Remus's rook. "Check." He added absently.

"Well it's not my fault he doesn't know how to have a little fun!" Harry marveled at how well Sirius got the topic off of his home.

"Done!" James declared happily as he set his quill down and shook his hand to get the cramps out. Sirius groaned and dropped his head on the table.

"I hate homework. And I hate all of you for already finishing your homework." Even Peter had finished his essay about twenty minutes ago. Harry wasn't really paying attention as instead he was watching Remus get out of the trap he set up. The raven-haired boy frowned; _he wouldn't have been able to get out if he hadn't taken my pawn…_

"Come on, Siri, you only have two inches left!" Sirius continued to complain and everyone else continued to ignore him.

"Hmm… I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get some cauldron cakes from my trunk, does anyone want anything?" James asked and Sirius looked up excitedly.

"You got any Bertie Bott's?" James nodded and Sirius smiled and asked for some. James looked at his brother and Harry answered without looking up.

"Remus and I will both take a chocolate frog, please James. You can consider us even seeing as how you took some of my licorice wands on Wednesday." James opened and closed his mouth in clear disbelief. Harry laughed at the thought of James thinking he would get away with taking any of Harry's candy.

James left to get the food and Harry noticed Remus's cheeks were faintly pink. Harry knew that the brunette was unused to others noticing what he liked and getting some for him. When James came back, Sirius eagerly put some of the jellybeans in a pile and began a game where he would eat a bean and if it were good, he would give himself a minute off from doing his work, but if it were bad, he would have to write another sentence.

The quiet atmosphere lasted for a while as James flipped through a quidditch magazine and Peter read the required reading for herbology.

It didn't last long though when Harry sat up straight as Remus moved his bishop from _all the way on the other side of the damn board_ and took Harry's queen. _Shit!_

"Checkmate"

"Bugger!"

Remus smiled lightly and stood. He began to clean up the pieces and Harry tried to figure out where he'd gone wrong. After playing against Ron for so many years helped Harry improve his strategy skills, but here he was just taken down by an eleven-year-old! Of course, Harry was eleven too, but not _mentally_!

The rest of the night passed quickly and the weekend did as well. Harry was startled when, on Sunday, Remus spoke up.

"Hey, um, guys. My mum hasn't been feeling the best lately so I'm gonna go visit her for a few days…" Harry mentally calculated when the full moon would be and sure enough, it would be Monday night. "I won't be gone long, maybe until Wednesday morning or so… but I thought I'd just… let you know."

Harry was somewhat upset when he realized that with the full moon so near, Remus's nervousness was making an appearance. "Alright Rem, we hope she feels better soon." Harry said and the others voiced their agreement. "Tell her to get plenty of rest! The best way to get better faster is to sleep, after all." Harry added this on as an afterthought. He made it seem as though he was saying it because she wasn't feeling well, but really he was trying to get Remus to sleep off the full moon's effects.

"And look out for her devil dog, Remy!" Sirius cried and Harry mentally thanked him for bringing it up because that meant that he remembered so they wouldn't question when he showed up on Wednesday with more cuts.

Remus nodded. "Okay, yeah, thank you, I will." And then the conversation finished, though Harry could tell Remus was still worried. He didn't understand why, after all the others weren't going to notice the first time he went away for a few days!

But nevertheless, he was still nervous so Harry made sure the conversation steered clear of anything that would upset Remus. When the group of boys woke up on Monday morning, Remus's bed was empty and Harry figured he was in the hospital wing until the moon would rise that night.

Harry felt awful that he couldn't be there with Moony, but he knew it would be this way until they all transformed in their fifth year. Although maybe he could urge them to try the animagus transformation earlier and without Pettigrew weighing them down they could probably manage it early on in fourth year.

Classes carried on as usual (except Peter took Remus's place in the seating for the classes so when Remus would typically b next to Harry or Sirius or James, Peter was instead) and Harry found himself awake on Monday night sitting on the window ledge. He looked up at the white orb and strained his ears to hear the howling he had no doubt was currently happening in the shrieking shack. The shack was too far away and he couldn't hear anything, however, so he went back to bed and slept fitfully.

Tuesday was just as bad as the previous day and Harry found himself having to control his anger when Peter tried to worm his way into Remus's spot. He sat where Remus would sit and attempted to say what he thought Remus would say at that moment. It was positively infuriating and Harry could tell Sirius thought the same.

Every few minutes, Sirius would look up from whatever he was doing and would look sharply at Peter, as if to ask him why he was still here. Peter failed to notice and even James seemed oblivious – though really, he wasn't aware Peter was trying to take Remus's spot at all – but Harry saw it. He was guiltily pleased that he wasn't the only one who didn't like Peter. Unfortunately, James didn't notice anything off about him and Remus was stuck on giving him a chance.

Tuesday night (actually, very early Wednesday morning), Harry was awoken by the sounds of shuffling feet and the pull of bed curtains being opened. Harry listened as Remus settled himself into his bed and Harry felt more relaxed when he realized no fatal harm came to him.

Harry was elated when morning broke and he was woken up by a cheerful shout of "REMY!" by Sirius. Harry knew the pureblood missed him too and was no doubt glad to have him back to rightfully reclaim his spot in the group. Peter looked very putout and was avoiding Remus and didn't offer him any greetings.

Peter left early with Lily Evans, obviously still bitter about not being as good as Remus. The other four boys walked to breakfast a while later and Harry brought up a topic that hadn't been mentioned since the day of the first prank.

"So, we should really come up with a name for ourselves. Something that's clever and not unoriginal." The others voiced their agreement and Sirius asked what he options he suggested. "Well, including 'four' in the name, like 'The Four Fantastic Pranksters' is incredibly stupid, so we shouldn't do that."

"That doesn't even begin to sound good!" James cried and thought harder. "I think we should just be a two-worded group. Like 'The Tricksters' or 'The Thieves'."

"Thieves? But we aren't thieves, James." Remus reminded him, looking tired and pale and with a new scar on his neck.

"I know that, but others don't. Besides, it sounds cool." Sirius wholeheartedly agreed and Harry didn't say anything since he knew they would eventually be led to the name 'marauders' and would love it. The boys talked for a while more as they entered the great hall and dished up breakfast.

The rest of the week went by in much of the same fashion and the boys had trouble figuring out a name to call themselves. By Saturday, they narrowed the choices down to 'bandits', 'thieves', and, of course, 'marauders'. They were clearly leaning towards the last choice and James explained his thoughts.

"I've never heard of the word marauder before so I think that's kind of cool. Then way people won't know exactly what we're labelling ourselves as since they won't know the definition. And if they ever hear 'marauder' they'll automatically connect it with us! It'll be great!"

Sirius agreed completely and Remus did eventually, as well. The main reason he agreed was because the other names were worse and hinted at an even worse reputation.

Harry obviously went along with it as well, and was overjoyed at the idea of being one of the original pranksters, along with his father, godfather, and professor. He was happy that this time, there would be no betrayer in their midst. And thus, The Marauders were born.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello! I'd like to take this chance to say a HUGE thank you to **AnetteRuby** for her super long comment (I love you, I love you, I love you, you're so amazing, I love you xoxoxo)! It was extremely helpful and I've already found ways to include some of your ideas in the plot! ...Seriously, I cannot thank you enough, you had some great ideas and I twisted some of them around to make my story more interesting, so thanks again!

Also, this is a few chapters too late but thanks to **Outofthisworldgal**for your suggestions for pranks, I'll be using some of those, too!

And some final thank you's to **Fae0306** because she always shows her support and gives me ideas :) also to **geetac** for never failing to say that you like my chapter :) and to **WalksThroughShadows**: EEP thsnk you so much xD and finally to **Lupinesence** \- you are AMAZING and I love it when you comment, also you support my ideas and wow thank you :):)

Disclaimer: Dis ain't ma shit

ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 9

The rest of September was much of a blur. Remus had a mini-breakdown one night when he felt he needed his parents but they weren't there. When Harry thought about it, he realized that it was most likely the wolf missing his pack, so Harry vowed to become closer to Remus so Moony's pack could grow and he wouldn't feel as alone.

Only Harry and Peter witnessed the lapse of control, but Harry was worried that Peter would use the information against Remus as a way to get closer to the others. However, Harry seemed to have been making Peter out as worse than he was since the blond didn't mention the breakdown again after it happened.

But Pettigrew still attempted to take a spot within the Marauders, though it wasn't as obvious as before. He would follow them and try to talk more in conversations and give the group ideas for pranks – not good ones, but ideas nonetheless.

On the topic of pranks, the Marauders pulled off a few of them in the first month. One Wednesday, James and Sirius (and Peter, since he followed them) went around and hid in corners, where they casted a few spells at Slytherins (and a few Ravenclaws who got in the way) that changed their hair different colors. There were more, but many of them were unsuccessful or not worth mentioning. Harry knew they could do so many better pranks once they found the kitchen, passageways, and made the map. Unfortunately, he had no idea when any of those things happened.

So as everyone got used to being in Hogwarts and away from their families for so long, Harry focused on doing better his second time through. In classes, he always made sure to not get the spell right until after someone else did. James quickly took the top spot in transfiguration and Lily did the same in charms. Harry would let himself to an outstanding job on the homework assignments, but only did well enough in the practical portion to take the second spot for most classes. The only exception was DADA, where he willingly took the number one spot.

One thing Harry was somewhat upset about was at this point in time, there weren't any flying lessons. Harry figured it wouldn't be added to the curriculum for another few years, but still wanted to have another thing he happily showed off in. Although, when Harry thought about it, he decided he wouldn't try out for the quidditch team in second year since he didn't want to take the fame away from whoever would have been seeker originally.

But so September passed by relatively quickly and October started the same way. The full moon passed again and Remus used the excuse "my cousin is in the country for the first time in a few years so I have to visit him" to get away without suspicion. It worked well enough and the others didn't think twice before accepting that as the truth.

But soon October was also at an end and then it was Halloween – the last day of the tenth month and also Harry's least favorite day.

But Harry decided it was stupid to not like Halloween anymore; after all, his parents aren't dead in this timeline. It was because of this reason he could sleep well at night. After the war ended and Harry was left alone to deal with the losses, his nightmares only increased. He could rarely get more than two hours of sleep a night and a full night of dreamless sleep was unheard of.

But when he became Harry Potter: Brother of James, he was able to avoid the nightmares by reminding himself that _it hasn't happened yet _and _I can stop it this time._

So this was going to be his first Halloween with both of his parents and he was going to spend it happy, damn it.

So on the morning of October 31st, Harry woke up and bounced, yes, _bounced, _over to James's bed to wake him up.

"James! James, James, Jaaaames!" When the boy refused to wake, Harry tried something else. "James! It's Halloween, wake up! We should do a big prank!" At this, the slightly older boy blinked open his eyes.

"Like what?" Harry grinned at his slurring words.

"I'm not sure. You think of something and I'll wake up Siri!" James grinned and shook his head.

"No way, I'm gonna wake him up!" Harry smiled and agreed. Peter woke up and Remus was just walking out of the bathroom when they heard a loud yell resembling something you would hear from Tarzan and they looked at the other half of the room. They were just in time to see James jump and go flying in the air from his bed to land on top of Sirius, who started shrieking.

"JAMES, GET OFF YOU BLOODY FATTIE!"

"What? No, I'm Harry!" James claimed and got an impish look on his face.

"No way, mate. I know you well enough to know you're James. As if the glasses weren't a big enough clue, the eyes and voice certainly gives it away." At that, Sirius pushed James off and pulled the covers back over his head.

"James, that's it!" Harry cried excitedly. "We can pretend to be each other today! We haven't done that in years!" James also looked excited and Harry rushed to pull out a book and find a spell that would change someone's eye color.

Everyone got ready as Harry found a spell and James practiced it until he decided he was good enough to do it on Harry. He focused and said the spell and was delighted when Harry's bright green eyes turned the clear hazel color James was known for. James then left to the bathroom for a mirror and change his eyes so they were Harry's startling green.

James went back and took off his glasses to hand to Harry. "Ugh, Merlin, I don't know how we're gonna do this. I can't see a bloody thing!" Harry slipped the glasses on and agreed.

"But c'mon, it'll be great! But your voice is a little lower than mine. I guess we'll just have to hope no one notices." The boys put their robes on and the group of five boys walked down to the common room to head for breakfast.

But once they got there, they were stopped by a frantic Lily Evans.

"Remus! Harry! I ran out of time and didn't do the last question for the potions homework! What did you get? Please, please, please help me!" Lily latched on to James-who-looks-like-Harry's arm and looked at him with pleading eyes. James blushed hotly and looked over to his brother for help. Harry shook his head with an amused smile and James realized he was on his own.

"I- uh- um- actually you know what? James understood it better than me. Ask him!" Harry glared but when Lily turned to him he forced a smile.

He opened his (James's) bag and searched for his (James's) defense homework. When he found it he looked for the answer (having to squint a little due to the glasses) then scrunched his nose.

"James, adding a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood would _not_ make a love potion." He deadpanned and James-who-looks-like-Harry cried out.

"What?! Yes it does, I'm sure of it!" Harry-who-looks-like-James thought back to his first ever potions lesson and shook his head.

"It makes the draught of the living death – it's a powerful sleeping potion. Write that down Lily, and Merlin, James, fix this!" Lily looked between the twins with an overwhelmed expression and Harry realized she must be incredibly confused. "Lily! Sorry, we're doing a prank today! We cast a spell on our eyes to make them a different color and I'm wearing James's glasses. But I'm Harry, I swear!"

"But shh, don't tell anyone!" James whispered and Lily nodded dumbly.

After that was cleared up, the group of students made their way to the great hall and sat down in their usual seats – with James and Harry sitting in each other's seat.

"So James," James-who-looks-like-Harry said to his twin. "How about them Cannons?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and answered him. "They're doing awful. So Harry, how do you think you did on that astronomy test?"

James narrowed his eyes at the game Harry was playing. "I think I flunked it. After all, I _am_ pretty bad at school. But James, you probably got full marks!"

"Well I think I'm going to fail the charms test today! Because even though I think I'm a god, I can't do a charm right if my life depended on it!"

"Uh, guys?" Remus cut in when he realized many nearby students were watching with confused faces. "I think you're being a bit too obvious." Sirius snorted in agreement but did say anything, choosing to instead focus on inhaling his breakfast. James and Harry shut up but still mock-glared at each other.

After a long and confusing breakfast where everyone messed up with the names and how to hold a conversation, the group went off to their first class: potions. Since James typically worked with Sirius, Harry had to. Because of this, James worked with Remus. They worked together fine but not as well as Harry and Remus did. But before they could put in the final ingredient and stir the finished potion, Harry saw Snape stand up.

Now, Harry had plenty of experience with Draco sabotaging his potions so he recognized the signs immediately. Snape looked over at their potion with contempt and stood. He went to the front of the room and handed in his potion, and Harry saw him shift something in his palm while passed their area again.

Then Snape "tripped" and Harry-who-looks-like-James watched as the crushed claws went flying. His hands shot out, desperately trying to catch the offending ingredient, but he wasn't quick enough. He only managed to catch a few as the rest fell into the potion. The liquid began to bubble dangerously and Harry pulled Sirius away and behind him.

"Get on your chair!" He shouted and James, Sirius and Remus did. He, however, was too far from his chair and couldn't make it there on time and instead his leg was hit by a large portion of the overflowing potion.

There was a lot of smoke and yells from his friends, but Harry was instead focusing on the pain in his leg. Harry had to refrain from snorting at the absurdity of the situation. Nothing good ever happens on Halloween, does it? In his first year there was the troll incident where he was hurt on his leg… in the exact same spot.

Harry stilled. Was this how it was going to work? Was he going to have to deal the injuries he gained from his first life? Was Fate just playing a game with him?

"Harry! Are you okay? You have to get to the nurse!" Harry nodded without actually thinking as his mind was whirling. He hasn't gotten any injuries from his past life before in this one. Did he only get the ones from Voldemort? He figured that must be it. Then he actually heard what Sirius said.

"Siri! I'm supposed to be James!" If he was going to be hurt then he'd be damned if their prank would be ruined too.

Sirius was told to take James (Harry) to the hospital wing so they stood and Harry offered a reassuring smile to James and Remus as they left the room. They didn't talk much on the way there, though Sirius switched between frantically making sure the raven-haired boy was okay and waving the arm that wasn't supporting Harry around and ranting about Snape.

Madam Pomfrey fixed his burns up quickly but insisted on keeping him for a few hours for the swelling to go down. She shooed Sirius back to class and gave him orders not to come back before lunch.

Sirius did as he was told and Harry was left with a few hours to think quietly about what happened. However, he wasn't alone for more than five minutes when he heard a voice that sounded startlingly familiar.

_You must change the future._

"Fate?" Harry asked, though he was already sure it was her.

_Yes, Harry Potter. You have to change the way events planned out._

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

_Yes, but you're changing yourself, as well._

"Am I not allowed to do that? Am I not allowed to be happy?"

_You are of course allowed happiness, young wizard. But you must understand: you have to remain much like yourself. You have let yourself become someone new; you are forgetting your past friends, your past life._

"But I don't want to remember. Ron and Hermione will have new friends and will lead a new life without me."

_Then you must remember your time at Hogwarts. Do not get too comfortable in a safe home, young wizard. Tom Riddle is on the rise here, you must remember what it was like to fight him, so I will remind you._

"So are you telling me that I'm going to get all of the injuries he caused me?" This _sucks._

_One way or another, yes._

"And I suppose there's no way out of this?" Were his friends going to thing he was the most unlucky person ever or the most attacked? Or were they just going to think he was clumsy?

_This is how it is supposed to happen, young wizard._

Then the voice faded out and Harry groaned. _Why him? _ Why did he have the worst luck? Why couldn't he just have parents and a brother and friends? Why is there always a price?

Harry pushed away his thoughts and willed himself to sleep, but it evaded him. He resigned himself to three long, uneventful hours in the infirmary.

* * *

Harry looked up from his herbology textbook by the opening of the infirmary doors.

"Harry!" James yelled and moved towards his bed. Sirius, Remus and Peter followed him and Harry sat up straighter.

"Hey guys, how was the rest of potions?"

"It was awful! Snivellus didn't even get in trouble!" Harry looked up in surprise.

"Snivellus?"

"Yeah, it's the name we gave Snape because he kept sniveling from the smoke – apparently his big nose is too sensitive!" James and Sirius laughed madly while Peter gave off insane giggles. "So, brother-dearest, how have you survived without me for so long?"

Harry pretended to wipe a tear. "Oh, it's been dreadful! It's too quiet without you! I don't know how I managed without an arrogant, wanna-be Merlin around me at all times!" James smacked Harry over the head as Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office.

"Mr. Potter, please refrain yourself from causing any bodily harm to my patients!"

James snorted and leaned over to whisper to Harry quietly. "Do you know if she thinks I'm you?" Harry thought about it for a minute before frowning.

"Well, I never told her who I was. Don't even think about giving me a bad reputation!" James smirked and leaned back to his original position.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Harry snorted. Right.

"So Harry, are you okay?" Remus asked and Harry wiggled his toes and moved his knees before nodding.

"Yeah, I feel great. May I go, Madam Pomfrey?" The matron looked at him over glasses before nodding sharply.

"Very well, Mr. Potter, just please be more careful around potions." Harry agreed obediently and left for lunch with his friends. Harry took the glasses off and rubbed his eyes

"Merlin, James, these are making me blind!" James reached over and put the glasses on and sighed in relief.

"This is so much better. We are _never_ doing this again." Harry agreed wholeheartedly and took the glasses back as they entered the hall.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful other than during DADA. Harry-who-looks-like-James was partnered with Sirius when, as a warm-up, everyone had to do the blocking pinching hexes activity again. Harry purposely casted one at Snape, but made it look like it wasn't him. He highly expected James and Sirius did too. And if he saw Remus with his wand pointed towards the future potions master at one point, he didn't say anything.

The feast was great and Harry witnessed Remus eat four and a half whole bars of chocolate before stuffing another six in his bag for later. No one realized that James and Harry were actually Harry and James until halfway through the feast, James performed the counter curse and Harry gave him back his glasses. Mary Macdonald asked in surprise if they were like that the whole day and when they confirmed it, she was suitably impressed.

Everyone else around the group complimented them on a prank well done and looked curiously at their faces. Harry guessed they were wondering if they had anything to do with the other pranks that had been played so far in the year.

Harry figured it was a pretty good Halloween despite the potions problem and decided it wasn't a bad way to finish off October.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey! I basically just covered some things in this chapter, so it's mostly filler, but I added some drama (that I really wasn't planning on, oops) at the end. I added Cheat (the game) because I love love love it :) I learned it as I Doubt It with my aunts then relearned it as Bullshit with my friends. But then I looked it up and it's apparently called Cheat in Britain so... yeah.

OKAY! Big big big question: should I have the others find out about the time travel? I really wasn't planning on it, but it's up to you guys... :)

Another huge thanks to **AnetteRuby** because she's an absolute doll and I love her and her ideas :):* Also thanks to **YummyChocolate17** and **Fae0306** :)

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

Sirius suspected something.

He wasn't a Black for nothing, after all. His ability to observe and note details almost as soon as they happen has been encouraged since he was born. He could still remember his father holding a toy in front of him, telling him to document the details. He could recall with perfect precision his mother talking in his ear, explaining what certain movements mean and why their guests would make them.

So yes, he noticed everything that happened around him at all times. He may seem foolish and never fully focused, but he was wise beyond his years. Years of magical punishments from his parents will do that to someone.

Remus Lupin didn't raise immediate suspicion when Sirius Black met him. While he may be a smidgen more reserved and weary, Remus was still a child and had fun like any other. When Sirius examined him (subtly, of course) he noticed he was more shy than the average eleven year old, and he had more scars, but he figured the "family dog" he mentioned just did a number on him.

Then he realized that his mother got sick a lot and he began wondering. Did Mrs. Lupin have a terminal illness? Did she get sick a lot? Or maybe Remus was lying. But why would he lie?

And what would he be covering up? Was it something worse than his mother getting sick so often? Was she dead? Did he leave to visit her grave?

Or, or, maybe she was in the mind part of St Mungo's? Was she insane? Was she depressed?

And then Sirius began to wonder.

Was if it was more than that? What if Remus didn't go off to visit his mother every month? Did he do drugs? Was it part of a contract? Or maybe it was as simple as him needing some time away every once in a while. Remy _is_ very quiet, maybe he's the depressed one?

Sirius wasn't sure what was going on, but whenever he came back from "visiting his mother" he was always more detached, more unhappy. And Remus was his friend now, so he didn't want him to be unhappy. So damn it, he was going to find out what was wrong and fix it.

* * *

Harry was watching Sirius curiously (he held back a laugh at how that rhymed. He was going to have to use that one in front of the others later). Harry knew he suspected that there was something more to Remus's explanations. When Harry thought back, he tried to remember when his father and friends figured out what Remus was. He was pretty sure it was early second year, or maybe later? So it was somewhat worrying that it was currently the beginning of December in their first year, and Sirius was trying to figure it out.

Was that bad or good? He wasn't sure. While the obvious response would be that it's good, since then they could become animagi faster and help Remus longer, he also wondered if it would mess anything up. Maybe they were hesitant on accepting his furry problem the first time and the only thing that made them decide to help him was the fact that they knew him for long enough to know he wasn't a monster. If they found out halfway through first year, maybe they won't accept him!

Harry could only hope that when Sirius found out, he would be accepting. But Harry wasn't sure whether they should wait until James figured it out on his own or if they should tell him. While Sirius was very perceptive, James was as oblivious as they come. A solid example was that he was friendly with Peter while the other two purebloods weren't. Remus also was nice to Peter, but that was just because he's too damn nice.

But he wasn't going to worry about that until the next full moon which, seeing as how the last one was four days ago on the first of December, would be some time during winter break. Therefore, Harry wouldn't have to worry about the situations for the next _two_ full moons.

But right now, Harry was in charms waiting until someone got the simple painting charm right so he could do it second. He was muttering the words and waving his wand in exaggerated motions when Lily finally got it with a cry of triumph. Harry watched as Flitwick awarded points and Harry finally let himself sit straight and perform the spell perfectly. Flitwick praised him at a job well done and Harry sat back, satisfied.

It was around then that he felt the eyes on him. Harry looked up to see each of his classmates' faces and figure out who it was that was staring at him. He was quick to realize that no Ravenclaws were paying attention to him, for they were too busy frantically trying to paint their board of wood. He then switched to the Gryffindors and met eyes with Lily. But she merely smiled at him in congratulations and looked away, so he reckoned it wasn't her gaze he felt.

He looked to his friends and realized it was his own brother that was looking at him oddly.

"How did you get that so quickly?" He asked and Harry's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? I didn't get it very quickly." He hoped his brother wouldn't pry but the boy mentioned shook his head.

"You were doing just as bad as the rest of us but once Evans got it, you got it too. Like it was easy." Harry figured the best way out of this was the simplest lie he could come up with.

"I read ahead and practiced the spell last night." James studied him a moment longer before relaxing. Seriously? _Now_ is when he decides to become perceiving?

"Of course. Really mate; you should've been a Ravenclaw!" Harry gave a weak grin in agreement. "Now help me out, I don't know what I did wrong and I'm definitely not asking Evans!"

Harry rolled his eyes discreetly. A few weeks earlier at the beginning of November, James had come to the library with Remus and himself and tried to talk with Lily. Unfortunately, Snape showed up and some rude comments were exchanged and thus began the hatred between Lily and James.

A few days after that the group was in transfiguration with the Slytherins and James made it a point to show Snape that he was the best. Lily had not approved of that and spent the rest of the day glaring at James.

Snape, however, didn't seem to pay much attention to James at that time. He instead was watching Harry as he too realized that Harry held back in classes until someone else did well first. Harry suspected Snape also connected that the younger twin was the one he accidentally hurt when the day after the potions incident as Harry was limping but James was not.

But after Snape started observing Harry, the latter was sure to do worse than he had been to shake of any suspicions. Now it seemed as though he would have to do that again.

But for now, Harry watched as his brother and friends messed up the charm again and again until finally asked Harry to help them. Remus got it next so he got up and walked to where Lily was sitting and struck up a conversation with her. Peter saw this as his chance and immediately moved seats to take Remus's.

"So J-James, what did you think of the astronomy homework?" Harry scowled at his continuous attempts to become best friends with James. But James merely looked up at Peter before returning to his work.

"I dunno. It was fine, boring though. Of course that's probably because I mostly copied Siri but…" he trailed off and smirked to himself while both Sirius and Harry laughed slightly. Peter, however, was laughing loudly.

"Oh, ho, ho! That's a funny one, Jamie!" Both James and Sirius's heads snapped up. Harry held back a victorious shout when Peter realized he just screwed up badly.

"Only I can call him Jamie." Sirius' voice was cold and left no room for anyone to take it other than how it was meant to be received. Peter nodded frantically and backtracked.

"O-of course, right, sorry." The rat coughed audibly in the awkward silence (it wasn't awkward to anyone else but him, really). "So what will you all be doing for winter break?"

James jumped slightly and pulled an envelope addressed to both him and Harry out of his pocket. "Oh, right! Ry, Nuntius dropped this off yesterday, it's from mum and dad." Harry read the note carefully before nodding.

"Alright, so we're going home for Christmas!" James smiled widely and turned to Sirius.

"What're you doing, mate?" He asked and the pureblood shrugged.

"No idea, mother will probably want me home though."

"Well, what if we ask if you can stay a few days with us? Mum will love another person to smother!" Sirius shook his head.

"No, I don't think mother would like that very much…" James frowned.

"Well what if we… what if we…" He hesitated. "I have no idea what we can do."

Sirius gave a bitter laugh. "It's just two weeks. Nothing very bad can happen in two weeks, right?"

Harry jumped in. "Isn't there some way to have you spend even a night or two at our house? You can of course spend most of your time at your house with Regulus, but she won't even let you spend one night with us?" Harry paused and gave Sirius a nervous look. "What if Regulus comes over too? Would your mother prefer that or would she repudiate it?"

Sirius shrugged again. "I don't know, I'll write her." Harry accepted that and turned to his brother as everyone stood and picked up their bags to go to lunch.

"Should we invite Remus over too?" He asked and James looked over to the halfblood.

"Yeah, sure. Mum would probably want Sirius and any other friends over for the New Year, so invite him them." Harry nodded and walked over to the shy boy.

"Hey, Remus?" The pureblood asked and he hummed.

"Yes Harry?"

"James and I asked Sirius if he wanted to spend the night of New Year's at our house and we wanted to know if you would like to come too." He said it as a question and waited as Remus did the mental calculations. Harry already knew the moon would be on December 29 so he should be fine by the thirty-first.

"Maybe, I'll have to ask my parents. I'd love to though." Harry smiled brightly and they walked to lunch. He really hoped James wouldn't ask Peter, for he didn't trust the other boy in his home. As the boys ate, Harry felt a mild cutting hex on his arm and had no doubt it was another injury he got his last life: most likely from Malfoy.

Harry performed a soundless healing spell – which he only knew due to the small cuts and jabs inflicted on him before. He was dreading the end of the year when he would have burns on his hands from touching Professor Quirrell; how would he receive them? Would it hurt as much as last time?

For now, Harry focused on the present. Thinking of presents, what was he going to get everyone for Christmas? What could he possibly get James that he doesn't already have? The good thing is that these are much easier problems to deal with than saving the world.

* * *

"Have any two's?"

"Go fish. Have any seven's?"

"Bugger, here."

"What are you playing?"

Harry looked up at his brother.

"Go Fish. It's a muggle game, and Remy's teaching me." James nodded and sat down.

"Can I play?" He asked and Harry motioned for him to come closer.

"Sure, it's kind of stupidly easy, but we were bored so," he shrugged and didn't finish his sentence. Remus began to explain again how to play and James caught on quickly. They played a few rounds before Lily and Marlene came over.

"Is that Go Fish?" Lily asked and Remus nodded in answer.

"Gold fish?" Marlene asked and Lily shook her head.

"No, Go Fish. Have any of you ever played Cheat?" Everyone looked up at the redhead.

"No," James answered for them. "What's that?"

Lily blushed at the attention and sat down. "It's a game where you have to place cards face down in the discard pile while going around. It's also called I Doubt It and Bullshit." She blushed more when she swore. "Say, if I were to start, I'd have my cards and I'd put down as many aces as I had. Then I'd say what I put down, for example, 'two aces'. Then Marlene, since you're next to me, you'd be next, only with two's." The others nodded in understanding.

"And they'd be face down?" Harry clarified.

"Right. But," she continued, "what if she didn't have any two's? Then she would lie, or 'cheat' hence the name, and put down a different card and say it's a two. If no one suspects her, she got away with it and the game continues. But if, say, Remus had all of the twos and knew that Marlene couldn't have possibly put one down, he calls 'cheat' and she has to pick up all of the cards in the pile. The first one to get rid of all of their cards wins."

The first years agree to play the game and since it was five people – Harry, James, Remus, Lily and Marlene – they used only one deck of cards. But when Sirius later arrived after the detention he got, and Peter crawled over from where he was sitting, they joined and used two decks. Overall, it was a great bonding experience and Harry cherished the moments spend with his former father and his friends.

* * *

"Should we invite Peter over too?"

Harry looked up from his homework at the abrupt question. Surprisingly, it wasn't him who answered James's question.

"No"

James turned his gaze over to Sirius. "Why not? He isn't that bad."

"We know that, James, but he isn't one our best friends, either." Harry reminded him and James frowned. "I'm sorry, and if you really want to invite him you can, but you know I don't let anyone except people I surely trust into my room. I'd let you two and Remus in, but not him."

James returned to his charms questions and silently worked for a few more minutes.

"Why don't you trust him?" He asked finally and Harry and Sirius exchanged glances.

"James…" Harry hesitated. "Do you really trust him?"

James nodded. "Yeah, he hasn't done anything to make me distrust him."

"Well, not noticeably, no. But have you seen him trying to take Remus's place when he leaves?"

"Yeah, Jamie, it's like he wants what Remy has." Sirius added.

"Well maybe if we spent more time with him, he'd have his own place with us and wouldn't have to take Remus's!" James argued and slapped his quill onto the table.

Harry wisely backed off of the topic to let James cool down but Sirius didn't seem to want to let it go.

"James, he _worships_ you. He might want to be friends with you, and you might want to befriend him, but he doesn't want us too! He wants 'James and Peter'. Sorry if it bothers you, but I really don't want to be pushed aside as he worms his way into the spot as your best friend. I want 'James and Sirius and Harry and Remus'. I want 'The Marauders'. I don't want 'James and Peter'." James stubbornly didn't look at Sirius.

"Well it doesn't matter what you want. It's _my_ house, and if I want Peter over for New Year's, I'm going to invite him!" Harry kept silent and didn't remind his twin that it was his house too.

"Fine." Sirius snapped and stood to find a new table to do his homework at. Harry could feel both his brother's and his friend's eyes on him, waiting to see who's side he would choose. Would he stay with James? Would he leave with Sirius?

Harry stood and gathered his materials and left the common room altogether.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! Sorry this is so much later than usual. School started up and I had to finish summer projects just to get assigned more on the first day and I only finished them all last week and... that's no excuse, so I'm sorry. I wanted to wait and restart regular updates in October, but I finished this early and decided to get it out now. You should probably expect an update a week, and I'll also try to post the occasional chapter of The Boy Who Cried Help. But I also have the first few chapters written of two other stories (crossovers, actually) since the ideas struck me and didn't let me write this until I had all of my thoughts down and wow, I should really just get to the point.

1) I'll try to update this on Mondays. 2) I'll try to update TBWCH on Thursdays. 3) I'll try to post the first chapters of the crossovers by the end of next week. 4) I love you and thank you for sticking with me when I really don't deserve it :*

ALSO! Matt (guest) made a really good point so I want your opinion, since I have plans for either choice. I'm having Harry get all of his injuries again, but Matt said he didn't like that because Fate specifically said the only catch was that Harry would be a different person. But then suddenly she says that he was forgetting who he was! I have him conversing with Fate in this chapter so tell me, should I have her listen and he should stop getting the injuries? Or should I keep it since it isn't done by other authors? **I WILL NOT HAVE HIM GET HIS SCAR SINCE THAT IS A SYMBOL OF THE BOY-WHO-LIVED AND HARRY IS NOT HIM ANYMORE.

Thank you all again :) I love love love you :) (sorry this is so long) (sorry this chapter is so short and all over the place)

Chapter 11

Sirius sat down next to Harry and gave him a large smile.

"Ry!" He yelled loud enough for most of the great hall to hear – loud enough for James, who sat right across from Harry, to hear.

Harry rolled his eyes and exchanged flat looks with Remus.

"Hello Sirius." He said dully. "Hello James."

James smiled smugly in Sirius' general direction (but not at Sirius, oh no, he wouldn't willingly smile at Sirius) and spoke. "Good morning Harry, good morning Remus!" Remus nodded at both of the boys but didn't speak.

"So Ry," Sirius continued, his voice was much closer to his normal level. "I was thinking after charms today you and I could do some studying in the library, how about that?" James looked up, annoyed at the other pureblood for stealing his brother.

"So Remus," James said louder that Sirius. "Maybe today we could study in our dorm? Maybe you could help me with the history of magic essay?"

Remus and Harry didn't manage to get a word in and instead had the same facial-expressions-conversation they had last yesterday. And the day before. And the whole week before that.

"Harry, you know we should try to find some secret passages, wouldn't that be fun?" Sirius practically shouted. Students around them were looking over with annoyed faces while others just huffed and looked away. Most of them were used to this by now.

The next sentence, James did yell. "Remy, we should really try to find the kitchens, it would be great!" Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. _This is so annoying._

"HARRY, LET'S GO TALK TO SOME OF THE PORTRAITS"

"REMUS, LET'S GO TO THE COMMON ROOM"

"**HARRY, LET'S**-"

"**REMUS, WE SHOULD**-"

"**_HARRY, WHY DON'T WE_**-"

"**_REMUS, WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT IF_**-"

Remus and Harry rolled their eyes again and Harry stood.

"I've finished my breakfast. Come on, Remus, we should get our books and go to herbology." Harry shoved his last piece of toast in his mouth (at least, that's why they thought. Only Remus saw Harry slip two pieces in his pocket to munch on later. For now, they just wanted to leave) and Remus followed him out.

Sirius and James glared at each other and shut up, choosing to eat the rest of their breakfast in silence.

"They're acting like children!" Harry exclaimed as soon as they were away from the great hall. Remus nodded solemnly but didn't speak, instead letting Harry rant since it seemed as though he was finally past the breaking point.

"It's absolutely insane! I mean, what the hell are they doing? Why won't they just make up? Break is in two weeks but if they're still fighting, I'm not speaking to James and Sirius isn't coming over. Are they really going to make me do that? Over a stupid argument about Peter? I mean, I get that it's a big change for them, to not immediately agree over something, but can't they put it away until _after_ Christmas? I mean, for Merlin's sake, we leave _next Monday_. That's 13 days away!"

Remus agreed silently again and Harry sighed. "Do we know where Peter is?" He asked. Remus shrugged and decided to finally speak.

"I think he went to class early. Professor McGonagall wanted to speak with him." Harry accepted that and collapsed on the cold stones of the hallway. He leaned his back flat against the wall and his head thunked as it was thrown backwards in agitation.

"The problem is that I have no idea what to do. I can't imagine either of them relenting but I really don't want to have to ignore them. I don't want Peter at my home but if it'll make James shut up…" Harry trailed off, worrying his bottom lip. "But I really want Sirius to come over, so maybe I should agree with him and pull the majority card. But then James would hate me and I don't want that." Harry groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "Why is life so bloody difficult?"

"You're eleven," Remus reminded him with a quiet laugh. Harry joined in after only a moment and stood up.

"I guess I just leave it for them to figure out. Maybe I'll yell at them if I get annoyed enough. But until then, don't expect me to make conversation with either of them." Remus grinned.

"I don't blame you," he said.

James plopped down into the seat next to Harry.

"Hey little bro!" He went to knock shoulders with him but Harry moved away.

"Hi"

"Where were you this morning? You were gone when I woke up."

"With Remus"

"Doing what? Obviously not homework since you always finish that before bed."

"Talking"

"About what?"

"Stuff, James. Look, I really have to go. I'm meeting up with Remus and Lily in the library."

James frowned and shook his head. "No, wait a minute. What's up with you? What have I done?"

Harry finally turned and faced him. "What have you done? You and Sirius are ruining a friendship that was supposed to last the whole time while at Hogwarts! We were going to be the pranksters of the school: you, Siri, and I – and now you two are throwing it away! Over some stupid disagreement! Do you really want Peter over so badly that you risk ruining a friendship that's lasted a few years?"

James shook his head. "Of course not. Truthfully, I don't care whether he comes over or not. I just want Sirius to stop thinking he can control who we do and do not become friends with. Just because _he_ might not like someone doesn't mean _I'm_ not allowed to speak with them."

Harry stared at James before rubbing his forehead. "Then just _tell him that_. I'm tired of the fighting!"

James gave a tired grin and sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Sorry Ry, you know I didn't mean to put you in the middle, right?"

Harry laughed shortly. He was positive that was exactly what he intended to do. "Yeah, James, I know. Just don't do it aga-AH!" Harry's hands flew to his thigh.

James straightened immediately. "Harry? Are you okay? What happened?"

Harry winced and tried to act normal. "N-nothing happened – ah – I just pulled a muscle in m-my thigh, I think." He bit his lip as he wondered what could have possibly happened last life to create this pain.

James was his oblivious self and let it go, and Harry had never been happier of that fact. He managed to make it out of the common room without drawing suspicion and began searching for an empty room.

As soon as he found one, he sat in a dusty seat and looked around. "I don't understand." He spoke slowly and hoped Fate was listening. "I don't understand," he repeated, "why this is happening. You told me it was because I was forgetting my past self. Isn't that what I was supposed to do? Become a new person? Get a new life? Why did you have to change it?"

He waited for an answer but one didn't come. Harry, in a rare show of rage, stood and overturned a table.

"I DON'T GET IT!" He cried. "I accepted it at first because really, it's not the strangest thing that's happened to me. But now I'm sick of it because I'm getting injuries that I don't remember getting the first time and _I don't get it!_"

He felt the increase of magic before he heard the voice.

_Fate is a fickle thing._

"Yeah, no fucking shit. But it doesn't change the fact that you _specifically_ told me that the only catch was that I'm _not Harry Potter any more_. And then you go and you change your mind and I'm sick of it! Now these cuts and bruises I'm getting are making me Harry Potter again and _damn it I'm not him._"

The voice didn't reply and Harry collapsed back into a chair, defeated.

"Isn't there any way for me to not have to go through this again?" He asked miserably. "How am I supposed to explain this? I obviously can't tell them the truth. Merlin, I just wanted to be normal. Why are you not letting me be normal?"

Silence.

"Fine. You know what? I don't care. I don't care. Use me as your punching bag. See if I care, because I don't. I don't anymore." He would never admit it, but he was hoping Fate would say something and stop the injuries. He looked around again and pulled out his wand. He mumbled a healing charm to fix his bruised thigh and sent a _reparo_ towards the table that now had a large crack in the side.

He righted the wooden table and left the room in a cloud of misery.

"Hi Ry!" Sirius said happily as he sat in the space across from him. Harry looked up and noticed James sitting next to the pureblood.

"All sorted out, I see." He replied with a smile.

"Yep!" Sirius cheered and reached over to take a piece of James' buttered toast. He lowered his voice. "And Peter isn't invited, so everything works out!" Harry was also very glad of this fact.

"Good, you were both becoming bothersome." James looked up and gave a mischievous grin.

"You know what else that means?"

"What?"

"The Marauders are back together so the pranks are back on!" Sirius and James immediately began planning with excited voices and Harry went back to his food. When Remus showed up a few minutes later he looked at the boys and turned to Harry with an amused eyebrow raised.

"Care to explain?" He asked.

Harry hummed. "Not much to say. I told James he was being an idiot and they really solved it themselves from there. Say, have you heard yet if you can come over for New Year's?" Remus nodded and grabbed an apple.

"Yeah, my mum said it would be fine. Great, in fact. Does this mean Sirius will be coming over too? And not Peter?" Harry couldn't figure out how Remus felt about not including Peter.

"Yes to both. Their agreement was that Sirius wouldn't be so hostile in school but James wouldn't invite him to out-of-school events. At least, that's what I gathered."

"At least they managed to make an agreement at all. I was afraid we would have to shove them into a room and let them hex the anger out." Harry looked at the brunette with shock. He couldn't imagine older Remus ever saying something like this. Was that Harry's presence doing that? Or was Remy always like this and it was the war that made him so quiet and weary?

"What?" Remus asked defensively. Harry hadn't realized he was staring.

"Nothing," he said smoothly. "Just wondering what you've done with the Remus I know."

Remus' lips quirked up and he rolled his eyes. No matter how uncaring he tried to seem, his ears still turned red and there was the faintest brushing of pink on his cheeks.

"Oh, shush you. They just became too annoying for me and any longer I probably would have snapped." Harry couldn't visualize Remus 'snapping'. He was just so calm all the time; it was weird to think that perhaps at points he wasn't.

"Yes, well, I suppose it's a good thing that they are all sorted out then, huh?"

Remus agreed wholeheartedly.

With the four friends back (almost as if the last few weeks hadn't happened; the only difference was everyone was being careful to not mention Peter too much in fear of starting another argument), the last week passed quickly. They were given a plethora of homework that Harry knew Sirius and James wouldn't do until the last day, but other than that, nothing notable happened before it was time for break.

The friends sat in a compartment together again and made jokes the whole time. However, Remus, Harry, and even James noticed how Sirius seemed to tense as they approached London. Only Harry knew it was because he was dreading seeing his mother for the first time in months. James could probably infer it was something about that, but Remus would have no idea what could be worrying Sirius so.

Too soon, the train was pulling into the station and Sirius was looking much too pale.

"See you soon," Harry told both Remus and Sirius.

"Yeah, less than two weeks until New Year's!" James chimed in and Sirius relaxed slightly.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll try to write before then though. And I have to go shopping!" The boys exchanged their goodbyes and Harry watched carefully as Sirius took a portkey with his father. Hopefully Walburga Black wouldn't yell too loud when Siri got home.

Harry greeted his parents with a large smile and happily accepted the hugs and forehead-kisses. James, however, tried to rub his off.

"How was the first semester of school?" Dorea asked as they made their way through the train station. "Did you make friends? You mentioned a boy named Remus. How is he? Is he nice? What are his favorite foods so I can cook them for your sleepover?"

James interrupted. "Mum! It's not a _sleepover_! We're hanging out!"

"But they'll be _sleeping over_ at our house, yes?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's a sleepover! Those are for _girls_!" James looked over towards Harry for help but he just shrugged.

"I dunno, I guess it's not a sleepover," James was victorious and Harry leaned over to mumble in his ear: "especially if we stay up and don't sleep." Both boys were excited and planned on doing a lot of fun stuff as the first official not-sleepover with only the four marauders.

A/N what should they get for each other for Christmas? HELP


	12. Chapter 12

Next chapter! Sorry this took so long, but I'm quite proud of it. I wrote most of it within the past two hours and while there's no real plot, it set up a lot of things for the future. I'm not going to say what, because that would be telling, but trust me when I say a _lot_ of things were just set in motion. Enjoy, le mie bellezze!

CHAPTER 12

Harry looked contentedly at the room. It was decided between the twins that for the first not-sleepover, the Marauders would all sleep together in a room. To do this, their parents vanished the wall separating James and Harry's rooms to make it into one large bedroom large enough for the four first years. It was still a few days until the others arrived, for tomorrow was Yule, but Harry and James decided to spend the holidays with their rooms combined, which was a step up from when one would sleep in the other's room when they were young.

"Harry?" James asked.

"Yes, James?"

"Did you get anything for Siri and Remus yet?" Harry shook his head.

"I wasn't sure what to get for Remus and I haven't had a chance to go looking for Sirius. Besides, we'll be going to Diagon in two days. Why? Have you?" James also shook his head in the negative.

"I've been thinking about gifts for the past few weeks but I can't for the life of my figure out what to get Siri. He has as many books as he could want – not that he wants any at all – and everything else he could buy for himself."

"And he already has an excessive supply of prank materials." Harry chimed in and James agreed. "Well, we could always make special bracelets or something-"

James cut him off. "Friendship bracelets, Ry? Merlin, you're just as bad as mum! Am I really the only one who understands that we aren't bloody girls?!" Harry huffed, annoyed.

"I never said we were, James." _Merlin, give me patience_. "I'm just saying that maybe Sirius would appreciate something a little more personal than some lame gift." James was still sour but agreed with the fact that something with emotional value would be better.

"Well, we have a few pictures from some of our pranks. We could give him a small packet with them." But Harry refused.

"That's more of a birthday gift. Besides, we don't have nearly enough for even a small packet. We can give him an album of some sort in a few years."

"Alright, so going off of your idea of the bracelets, why don't we get some necklaces? Not golden chains or anything. But, like, maybe some black cords with a charm that means something?" Harry beamed at his twin brother.

"Brilliant idea, James! And the charm could have some protection spells or something weaved in! Should we make that the gift for both Siri and Remy? And then we can get them a gift certificate each, too. Like, a ten galleon one from Quality Quidditch for Sirius and one from Flourish and Blotts for Remus."

James decided that it was a great idea and they went off to do their separate things. Harry wanted to go find Peri. Once his little kitten with her peridot eyes arrived with him at the manor, she was immediately off doing who-knows-what. He was glad she was happy since he got the feeling she wasn't overly fond of the magic castle.

Since pets weren't allowed outside of the common rooms at Hogwarts, Harry had to go through most of his days without Peri. However, when in the room or in the dormitory, everyone came to expect the small black cat to be somewhere on Harry – whether it was on his shoulder or stuck into one of the warm pockets of his robe. The girls thought it was adorable and always tried to pet her, but Harry was strangely protective of the little cat.

Harry found her curled up on a magically-heated windowsill soaking up as much sun as possible. Harry snorted and left her alone, and decided to find something else to do. Of course, there was always homework to be done, but why would he willingly do that?

Christmas was a nice event, and Harry treasured the fact that he was able to experience them to this degree since he was unable to the first time. As always, James was jumping on Harry's bed before the sun even arose and the younger boy did everything he could to gain a few more minutes of sleep. Five o'clock was too bloody early for even Harry to be up.

As it was becoming tradition, once they reached the kitchen James challenged Harry to a food-eating contest. This time it was French toast, which Harry had never had the luxury of trying before he went back in time. James, of course, won, but Harry didn't feel at all upset about it. Though he did fake resentment to put on a show.

Both boys received many gifts from their parents, including many outfits and a new pair of dress robes each. They also got new games that Harry had never heard of and a whole assortment of candy. But Dorea couldn't give them all of the unhealthy food and still feel good, so the boys also both got an orange. James made a face at the offending fruit while Harry just laughed and ate his for an early lunch.

James and Harry didn't exchange gifts on Yule because they decided they would do it when their friends arrived. And they did, when Remus arrived by portkey and Sirius by floo six days later.

Behind Harry was a still-small Regulus Black, and while Sirius and James looked a little put-out by him being there, Harry was expecting it. There was no way Walburga would let her heir spend New Year's with bloodtraitors and a half-blood without having some way to keep an eye on everything.

Everyone exchanged greetings and Remus was introduced to Reg before the gaggle of boys traveled to James and Harry's joint room.

"Are we exchanging presents now?" Sirius asked, excited. The other boys rolled their eyes at his behavior but it was decided that _yes, they could do it now_.

Since Harry and James weren't certain Regulus would be coming and since Remus didn't know who he was, no one had any gifts for him. Of course, he didn't have any for anyone else either, but that's beside the point. Still, Harry got a few handfuls of candy and gave them to the younger Black with a wink before joining Remus on the floor.

James and Sirius were hanging off of James' bed and Harry and Remus had their backs pressed against Harry's. Regulus sat a few feet away in the chair next to Harry's desk. The four marauders handed their gifts out correctly before moving back and looking at each other.

"Open mine first!" Sirius exclaimed and Harry raised an eyebrow. He would have thought that Sirius would want to open presents first, not watch others. But the man had a tendency to surprise him, and really this was no different.

So the boys opened Sirius's gifts and Harry smiled at the predictability of them. He himself had gotten the newest model of a practice snitch. He had been wondering why he didn't get one from his parents since usually they liked to spoil their boys, but now he understood. Sirius had probably talked to them privately at some point and asked them not to buy what he planned to get for them.

It was very thoughtful and Harry found himself smiling fondly.

James got new chaser gloves of the highest quality and he thanked Sirius profusely before trying them on and refusing to take them off for hours. Remus got a book on the advanced history of quidditch and why it's such a popular game from Sirius with strict orders to "read it and realize what you're missing."

After that, Sirius laid back, satisfied, and James jumped up and down.

"Open the ones from us, next! We worked together so we decided to just say they're from both of us. C'mon, open them!" The werewolf and dog animagus laughed and Sirius opened his gift painstakingly slowing to rile James up. After two whole minutes and the wrapping paper still only being half undone, James finally snapped and jumped on Sirius and brought him to the ground.

"You're taking too long!" He shouted and tore the rest of the paper off of the gift and shoved it in Sirius' face. By now, Sirius was in hysterics and Harry was gaining a stich in his side from his withheld laughter.

The room quieted and Sirius looked down to the gift in his hands. Remus had opened his a few minutes before, but hadn't yet looked at it so he did then. Their faces morphed into suspiciously soft smiles the identical necklaces.

They were both hung on dark brown cord that couldn't be cut by muggle means and had a strange knot at the back that, when pulled properly, would lengthen the cord so that it could be lifted over a head. On the rope dangled a charm a few square centimeters large that was shaped like a shield, or a crest. On the metal charm was an elaborate 'M', which obviously stood for 'Marauders'.

Both boys looked at the twins and without saying anything, they lifted identical necklaces from where they were hiding underneath their shirts. They smiled at each other and Harry wondered if maybe this moment would be the one he would think of when doing the patronus charm from now on. Everything was just kind of perfect at the moment.

But it had to be ruined by a small voice from the chair. Harry had to keep from jumping; he had completely forgotten Regulus was there at all.

"'M'?" He inquired and Sirius turned to glare at his brother.

"It's none of your business, Reg, and nothing mother is in need of knowing about." Regulus flinched back from Sirius and Harry leveled a disapproving look on the older Black, which was steadfastly ignored.

"I'm sure you'll understand next year, Regulus." Harry told him gently with a smile and the youngest boy looked at him with a matching one.

"Ooh, do you really think everyone will have heard of us by next year?" Sirius asked, regaining his cloud of excitement.

"Of course they will've!" James announced somewhat arrogantly. "We'll be the greatest pranksters that school has ever seen!" Remus rolled his eyes and Harry laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, just open your second presents." The boys slipped their necklaces on (after James briefly explained that they have charms that will lessen the blows of most minor hexes and curses) and opened their gift certificates. The twins were thanked and they turned to each other.

"Here," James said, handing Harry a long blue box. The smaller boy looked at the other curiously, before taking it and handing over a large square box of his own. Harry grinned widely when he removed the lid of the box and saw three rare chocolate frog cards he needed for his collection. Also in the box, lined around the edges were some of Harry's favorite candies. He discovered them two years ago when he came here and would eat them continuously if they were easier to find. As it was, they were only available in Africa, so it was rare they were able to get any.

Harry launched a hug as his brother who laughed and let him while he looked down admiringly at the hand-crafted chess set from Japan.

"Your old one is getting a bit touchy, so I decided it was time you updated."

"How'd you manage to get one from Sokiyuki? The man's notorious for being mad hard to find!" Sirius spoke up and James looked at him amusedly.

"Really, Siri, I don't think there's anyone further in the social circles than my mum. With the right people, she could find anyone she wanted within a week or too." Harry nodded in agreement and Remus looked suitably impressed. "I thought you'd figured that out by now." Sirius turned scarlet and ducked his head.

Remus decided to draw the attention off of Sirius and passed out his gifts. Harry thought back to Hermione when he realized they were all book-shaped. He let James and Sirius open their presents first to see what they got.

Sirius opened his to find a medium-sized book on both dark and light creatures that Harry faintly remembered him saying that he wanted in passing a few weeks before. Harry mentally applauded Remus for his memory. Sirius seemed excited (apparently magical creatures was an interest of his and it was a new book that the Black library didn't have yet) and reluctantly put it down. Harry didn't think he'd ever see the day that Sirius would _want_ to read a book instead of doing other things.

In James' package was not one large book, but actually a collection of three smaller ones. He looked at the autobiographies of three of the current best quidditch players with interest.

"They wrote down some of their hints and tricks in them, too. I got two of chasers and one beater because I figured you might want to learn a little more about the other positions so you can beat them."

After more thanks were passed, Harry turned to the last gift – the one in his hands. He peeled the silver wrapping off before rolling it into a ball and throwing it at Sirius' face. The pureblood yelled in outrage and threw the sphere at James, who yelped and fell from his sitting position onto his back.

While the two play-fought, Harry stared at his new book with a wide smile. In front of him was, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Since the first day on the train, the two boys had talked more about the morbid author and tried to debate on which of his works were the best. Unfortunately, it was so long since he read any of them so his knowledge was lacking.

But now he would be able to read them and have something to talk about with Remus. Harry looked up at the werewolf and tackled him in a hug, too. When Sirius whined how he felt left out because he never got a Harry-hug, he gave him one too.

They talked and played games together for the next a few hours (with Regulus basically just watching until Harry forced him to join in) until it was ten-thirty and Reg had to return home. Walburga didn't want both of her sons staying the night at the Potter's so he went back when it was time for bed.

The Marauders, however, stayed up until midnight when they counted down to bring in the new year. They tried to pull a full-nighter, but fell asleep some time before two o'clock, draped over each other on James and Harry's combined beds in the middle of the large room.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello! Look at me! Another chapter already! And there's a scene in the next chapter that I'm really looking forward to so the next one should be out in about a week as well :):):)

In this chapter: THE INEVITABLE MARAUDERS FOOD FIGHT! No seriously, what I wouldn't give to experience one XP The poem quoted in this chapter is the first half of "To F_s S. O_d" by Edgar Allen Poe. A strange title, but truly magnificent, if I do say so myself :)

To my dearest **AnetteRuby**: you make my day every time you comment :* and to **BestUsernameEver54321**: I hope you someday end up writing one! I would love to read another! Thank you so much for your comments lovely, you have no idea how much I appreciate them :)

And to everyone else who read and responded positively, whether it be with a favorite, follow, or review, I thank you greatly!

Psst. Psst! Hey, you! Guess what I ordered on Amazon today? A case for my iPod with a picture of the Marauder's Map on it! I'm so excited! It should be here by Friday!

Ahem, anyways, on with the story!

.|~|.

**CHAPTER 13**

Harry woke up slowly the next morning. He wasn't fully in his mind and it was unclear where he was for a minute. But he felt a smooth arm under his head that wasn't his own and there was a body draped across his legs. He disregarded it and pressed further into the mattress. He was warm and content, and perhaps more comfortable than he had been in years. He let the drowsiness take over and fell deep into slumber once more.

.|~|.

The second time he awoke, it was to less pleasant circumstances. Sirius and James were jumping over furniture and on the beds with pillows flying from their hands. _And he claims they aren't girls_, Harry thought petulantly. Why did they have to have a pillow fight when he was still asleep? And how were they up when he and Remus, the early risers, were still in slumber?

He paused on that. _Was_ Remus still asleep? He wasn't sure. But when he turned over (unwittingly giving away the fact that he had awakened) he saw the tell-tale brown hair and pale skin that was always immediately connected to the werewolf.

"HARRY!"

"He's awake!"

"GET HIM!"

Harry jerked in surprise when two bodies landed on top of his and he rolled over to dump them on the floor. Once they landed, he levelled them with a dark look. "Why am I not asleep?" He asked, and the two boys laughed.

"Well, I'm guessing because you woke up…" Sirius trailed off, laughing madly.

"You know what I meant, Siri! Why am I awake? It's too early!" The boys gave their best innocent looks (which were really quite bad though they've had so many opportunities to perfect them) before James raised an eyebrow.

"Early, Ry? I'll have you know it is in fact just a little after ten-thirty." Harry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"What?" He yelped. Sure, by the light in the room, it was easy to deduce it was at least mid-morning. But it was almost eleven! Which meant it was almost twelve! So it was practically the _afternoon_! Why was he up so late?

But then he remembered how comfortable he had been, cuddled up with some of the most important people to him – in both this life and his last one. And suddenly he understood that he could have wasted the whole day in that bed and wouldn't have voiced a single complaint.

Sirius laughed at his expense and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "and we've been up for _hours _waiting for you to get up!"

"And by that, he means roughly fifteen minutes." A drowsy voice mumbled drily and Harry turned over to look at Remus.

"Good morning, Remy!" Harry greeted warmly and the werewolf returned it.

"Why didn't I get an acknowledgement?" James pouted and Harry rolled his eyes at the behavior.

"And a good morning to you too, James. I suppose." James rolled his eyes and he and Sirius moved from the floor.

"C'mon, we have only a few hours until Siri and Remy have to leave and I intend to make the most of it." Harry snorted at his brother but quickly got moving.

"Are we going to have breakfast? Or just wait for lunch?" Harry asked and James shrugged.

"We can probably have a large brunch. You know Dippy will make anything we ask him to." But Harry shook his head.

"Dippy will already be cleaning by now." His expression lightened and Harry looked at his brother with excitement. "We can make it ourselves!" When James only raised an eyebrow, Harry pressed on. "It'll be fun, what do you think?"

He looked at the other two boys and waited for a response. Remus seemed to be waiting for Sirius' reaction, and the pureblood hesitated before shrugging a shoulder.

"I've never cooked before. How do we do it?" Harry grinned widely and jumped down from the bed.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Eyebrows raised in amusement, Sirius exchanged glances with James before following the youngest of the group out the door. Remus looked longingly at the bed before going as well, so James was left to huff a laugh and bring up the rear.

When the bespectacled boy got to the kitchen, Harry was already leaning over cookbooks while a house elf fidgeted nervously on the side.

"-make a whole stack of pancakes if we wanted, or a huge feast of eggs and toast and jam and sausage! Maybe we could make breakfast sandwiches with the egg and cheese on toast – calm down Zips, and stop fidgeting – and we can make bacon, too. Do we have any bacon? Does anyone know how to make it? Or maybe we shouldn't do-"

He stopped suddenly before looking at the three boys with wide grins.

"James, you know what we've never had, and I've always wanted to try?"

"A lot of things, I'm sure." James answered but Harry acted as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"Pizza, James! And now we're going to make it! Zips, can you check to see if we have these items? Flour, yeast, olive oil, salt, marinara sauce…"

As he went on Sirius moved next to James. Remus scooted closer to the pair as well once the Black heir began talking.

"What's gotten into him? He's never this... excited." It didn't look like the word Sirius wanted to use, but he seemed to be having trouble finding the correct one.

James shook his head in response. "I'm not sure. He's always liked to cook. He told me once that it was relaxing. Or was that mum? I can't remember…" He trailed off and it was quiet on their side of the kitchen once more.

The little house elf stood near Harry. "Zips checked the food, Littlest Master. Yous has everything yous needs."

"Thank you Zips, could you pull it all out for me? And put it right there? Thanks!" He turned to the others. "What are you waiting for? Come help me out!"

Remus jumped and walked up to Harry to see how he could be of service.

"Rem, do you see that tall cabinet? On the lowest shelf there are a few bowls. Could you get me the largest one, please?" Remus agreed and Harry opened the flour once Zips placed it in front of him. "Thank you Zips, that is all we need right now." The elf still looked nervous about letting his master do his job, but popped away regardless.

Harry began measuring out the flour and putting it in the bowl when Remus got it, humming under his breath all the while. He directed the others and they poured water, measured salt and added honey "just because".

After about twenty minutes had passed, the dough was sitting in a bowl, rising, and Harry looked at the kitchen. Ingredients had been dropped and spilt during the whole process, leaving the room a mess. Sirius, dreading the inevitable cleaning, decided to put it off for a few more minutes. He looked at the left-over flour on his fingers and turned slowly towards James.

"Jamie, you've got something right… here!" And with that, he hit the startled boy gently across the chin, leaving a trail of white powder on the skin.

James seemed frozen with shock for a minute, before he snapped out of it and jumped on Sirius, dragging him to the floor. He reached for the table and dipped his hand in the flour, tossing most of it on his chest with some reaching his neck and face.

To retaliate, Sirius grabbed a cup of water, meant to be used in the next step, and tossed it towards James' face. However, expecting the move, the younger boy ducked quickly and the substance covered a previously-amused Harry, leaving the poor boy drenched. It was quiet for only a minute, before Sirius let out a loud snort and started laughing.

"You look like an angry, wet cat, Ry!" He managed between howls. He really should've expected it when suddenly his hair was wet and something slick was dripping onto his shoulders. This time, it was James who couldn't contain his laughter.

"You look like Snivellus!" He cried out, pointing at his hair, which was now greasy with oil. "Good one, Harry!"

Sirius clutched his chest with his hand, feigning a broken heart, and looked up at James. "Oh, Jamie, how you wound me so!" He cried dramatically and inched his hand in (what he thought was) an inconspicuous manner towards the milk. However, before he reached it, he felt something against his back and heard the full-blown laughter coming from the twins.

He brought his hand up to feel what was decorating his back and raised his eyebrows when it came back wet with egg. He turned to see a blushing, but smiling Remus Lupin and listened when he heard James' voice.

"Look at that! Way to go, Remy! Look Siri, we've corrupted him!"

With lightning-quick movements, Sirius grabbed the milk and threw it towards the werewolf. The four boys laughed as they fought to get the upper hand and food was tossed, leaving the kitchen an utter mess. They only stopped when they heard the opening of a door.

"Oh, my!" Dorea Potter exclaimed, before her hand rose to cover her mouth.

"What is it, dear?" Charlus asked as he bent around his wife to see what was wrong with the kitchen. He was startled into silence for but a moment before he was letting out loud guffaws.

"Charlus! Don't encourage them!" Dorea scolded but her lips were twitching upwards as well.

After a light scolding, the boys were put to work cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless – with no help from the house elves. Harry decided it was worth it when they all sat around afterwards and laughed over homemade pizza and lemonade.

.|~|.

The last few days of break were quick and suddenly Harry found himself back on the Hogwarts Express with James across from him, Peri on his lap, and his Poe book open in front of him.

"_Thou wouldst be loved?–then let thy heart  
From its present pathway part not!  
Being everything which now thou art,  
Be nothing which thou art not._"

He spoke quietly as he read, trying to understand the words on the page. He was distracted when James looked up from his homework (that he was of course doing last minute).

"Did you say something, Ry?" He asked and Harry stared at him, uncomprehending, before finally something flashed through his eyes and he shook his head.

"No, no, sorry… well yes, but I was just speaking to myself." Harry flashed an embarrassed grin and turned to look out the window. They were dropped off early by their parents (where James again said something about solemnly swearing to be good) and were now waiting for Sirius and Remus to show.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." James said factually. Harry rolled his eyes and returned to his book. Although he would never tell James, Harry couldn't think of a good enough response to that. _Was_ he insane? No, that was stupid. Of course he wasn't.

"_Being everything which now thou art,  
Be nothing which thou art not._"

No, he wasn't insane. But he wondered what he _was._ Was he currently pretending to be someone he isn't? James didn't have a twin the first time. That's probably for a reason. Harry figured he was probably screwing everything up by being here. Yes, Fate gave him permission, but Fate has turned out to be a bitch, so that's not much of a condolence.

"_Being everything which __now__ thou art,_"

Well _now_ he was James's brother, and Charlus and Dorea's son. He liked this life a lot better, so _damn it_ he was going to live it. Besides, this time everything was a lot more fun.

Harry jumped when James suddenly launched himself at the window.

"Siri!" He yelled and Harry realized the older boy probably just appeared on the platform. Only a minute later, Remus's name was hollered as well. James waved wildly and Harry struggled to pull him away from the window.

_Yes,_ the raven-haired boy mused silently, _much more fun_.

His thoughts were reflected when the compartment door slammed open. The twins looked up in surprise and were met with the sight of what looked like a third year Gryffindor on the ground.

"You wouldn't believe what just happened! I was trying to get to our compartment and suddenly a Slytherin shouldered me and you'll never guess who I fell into!" He stood, tottering only slightly, and began to brush off any dust that might have collected on his robes. He never stopped talking. "_Alice Fortescue! _ Can you believe it? And guess what she said to me! _Guess!_"

When his friends failed to guess, the boy looked up. He was shocked to find not the faces off his fellow year-mates, but a pair of firsties. The Potter Twins, in fact.

"O-oh, um, I'm sorry, you're not Edgar…"

The three boys jumped when they heard a fourth voice.

"So what did Alice Fortescue say?" Sirius Black asked as he entered the compartment and leaned against the side of the door, a mischievous smirk adorning his handsome face.

The older wizard flushed spectacularly and stuttered fabrications, trying to cover up his words. Harry rolled his eyes and offered his hand.

"Harry Potter," he said as a way for the boy to move on from his mishap. The boy took the hand and shook firmly: a pureblood handshake, for sure.

"Frank Longbottom."

Harry's mind momentarily went blank. Longbottom? As in Neville Longbottom? So this was his father. Harry would bet anything that Alice Fortescue was Neville's mother as well. Harry hadn't even thought about them since coming to the past, but now that he met them he wanted to be sure that they wouldn't end up in St. Mungo's this time around.

Frank was introduced to the others before fleeing quickly. By that time, Remus had shown up as well.

"Well that was interesting." Sirius mused and the others agreed. They were well into a conversation about the ends of their vacations and whether or not they were excited about returning to Hogwarts when their door opened again. Harry suspected Sirius was holding back a groan when they saw little Peter Pettigrew looking up at them with hopeful eyes.

"Hey, guys, can I sit here?" James' sharp look at Sirius reminded the Black heir of his promise: that he would be nicer to Peter during school. He reluctantly nodded with the others.

Peter had changed a bit over the few months at Hogwarts. He didn't stutter unless very nervous and was on good terms with Mary, Marlene, and Lily (the female Gryff first years).

The rest of the train ride was much quieter and more reserved than it would have been if it were only the marauders. However, it wasn't necessarily _bad_, per say, and Harry found himself feeling a little guilty for having kicked him out of the group before he was ever even in it. Harry also saw Sirius look away once with his face showing uncomfortable remorse, but it was gone soon after.

In the end, it seemed as though little time had passed until they were back in the castle and making their way to the great hall to begin their second semester at Hogwarts. Harry couldn't help but feel like something big was going to happen.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello all! So, a few announcements to make right now. First of all, I was planning on partaking in NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up decided my novel idea royally sucked, so now my goal is just going to be to get this story to 50K words by December 1st, yay!

To my dear **AnetteRuby**, you have so many great ideas, but unfortunately so few of them fit with the plot I have :( someday maybe I'll use some more of them in a new story, or a long oneshot, but maybe you could try writing them? I'm sure they'd be wonderful, and I'm more than willing to read anything you write :)

**This is important. Kind of. In this chapter, the story is further moved alone and there is scene I've been waiting for - :) - but now I have questions which I will ask at the end as to not give anything away.

Lastly, (1) is part of a quote said by Dejan Stojanovic. The full quote goes: "Knighthood lies above eternity; it doesn't live off fame, but rather deeds." It was the only knight quote I could find that I didn't dismiss immediately.

Sorry this is so long! Enjoy! xx

* * *

**CHAPTER 14**

Harry yawned as he tried to stay awake during Binns' class. It was already boring enough that he could have fallen asleep ten times over, but added to it was that he didn't sleep well the night before. Of course, he didn't exactly sleep _poorly_ either, just… not well.

He didn't think there was any particular reason for it; it was just a dreamless night. While most might like that, it always made him feel uncomfortable. Even though he never remembered his dreams when he woke up, he was still always comforted by the fact that he had dreams instead of visions. But some nights he just didn't dream at all and it left him feeling… off.

He decided to finally just go to sleep when he realized even Remus was dozing with his head on his arm. Boring Binns as his first class back to Hogwarts was torture.

* * *

Harry doodled on his arm with an inked quill while waiting for the rest of the class to get the _engorgio_ spell right. He, as a way to mix things up, decided to not get it second, but _third_ today, so both Lily and a male Ravenclaw got it and were now helping others.

"Ry, help me out!" Sirius whispered furiously and Harry let out a breathy laugh. He hoped things would get more interesting soon. Right now, his days were full of helping people and doing assignments he had already done once. When would they become animagi? He was looking forward to that the most, as well as full moons.

"You're under-enunciating your vowels, as you always do. Don't forget that it starts with an _e_, not an _i_…"

* * *

"_Harry_!" The raven-haired boy heard someone hiss. He looked up in curiosity and saw James and Sirius' heads disappear around a corner. Rolling his eyes he followed their fading footsteps before finally catching up to them near a rusting suit of armor.

"Yes?" He asked, looking around the hall with interest. He was pretty sure they were somewhere near the east side of the school and on either the fifth or sixth floor.

"Look!" They said together and James turned and spoke clearly to the armor.

"Knighthood lies above eternity." (1) He said and Harry could only watch as the suit fell apart at his words and revealed a hole in the ground.

"How did you figure that out?" He asked dumbly and the James shrugged.

It was then that Sirius' handsome face curled into a pleased expression. "I asked the Ravenclaw knocker if it knew any knight quotes so we could speak them and hope to find a passage. It worked, of course." Harry's disbelief soon turned to euphoria and he laughed loudly.

"You found the Ravenclaw common room? And just casually talked with the knocker? Oh, that's brilliant! Truly brilliant, Siri! So do you know where this passage leads?" Sirius shook his head and when Harry turned to James his brother turned a bashful red.

"We didn't want to do it without you, little brother. Now, shall we go or fetch Remus?" In the end, they decided to find the other boy so Sirius closed the passageway with the same words he had spoken. It was easy finding Remus, who was engaged in a homework debate with Lily Evans in the common room. It took some persuasion, but he finally joined them and they surprised him by showing the passageway. When they did, he immediately adopted an excited look and pulled a muggle pad of paper and pen from his shoulder bag and jotted down where the passage was and its password.

"Why are you doing that, Remy?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow and Remus raised one in return before ducking his head and blushing hotly in embarrassment.

"I just want to keep a record of all of the passages so we never forget one. And maybe someday we could find a way to put them all together in a more convenient place." Harry mentally snorted. _So the map was his idea. I am both surprised and entirely not. He is, after all, the smartest Marauder._

They ceased talking when Harry walked closer to the hole in the ground and crouched down, ready to jump in it and hope for the best. However, he was suddenly pulled back by a hand on his shoulder.

"Wha- hey! James!"

The bespectacled boy shook his head and shoved Harry back towards Remus. "No way, little brother; if I arrive home this year with you in pieces because I let you jump down some dark, unforgiving hole, mum's gonna fillet me." At this point, Harry saw Sirius frown and turn to Remus, mouthing 'fillet?' to him with obvious confusion. Remus shook his head and motioned that it didn't matter so Sirius just shrugged. _Honestly_, Harry thought, _you would think purebloods would know a little bit more about what they consume every day._

While that was occurring, Harry had to fight a smile at his brother's words. Despite what he said, Harry wished to think it was more because James cared about his wellbeing. "Now, let's see what's down there!" And with that, James jumped down the hole. The other three boys rushed to try and see him, and sighed in relief when there was some laughter and James' voice calling out: "come on down! It's a real short drop, and there is some weird stuff down here!"

The boys then dropped one by one to enter a dark corridor-like thing with almost no light other than the _lumos_ James was currently casting. The others quickly performed their _lumos_ as well (except for Remus who did some fancy trick to make little floating lights – seriously, how did he _do that_ – that resembled fireflies) which lit the room up so it wasn't so dreary.

There were two large couches and a few of the required school textbooks laying on them in the center of the round room. There were also various objects cast aside and seemingly forgotten. It looked like a much smaller version of a common room, minus the fireplace. Branching off of the circular room were three hallways that all went in a different direction.

Remus bit his lip as he observed the passageway. "Dinner will be in less than half of an hour," he stated reluctantly. He was obviously less than eager to leave a place where there were potential secrets and valuable books (though Harry highly doubted they would find any).

"We'll come back during the weekend then," Harry decided firmly and the others were forced to agree before they took turns levitating each other back up the secret entrance.

* * *

Harry looked over towards Remus in worry. It was three weeks into January and the full moon was two days away. Unfortunately, the werewolf was pale and shaky and it looked like it was going to be a worse transformation than usual.

Without saying anything, Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a chocolate bar. He picked up the habit of having some of everyone's favorite treats to use for when in need of persuasion or bribery. He turned his eyes back down to his book and slid the chocolate over the library table, not wanting Remus to feel self-conscious or like he was being watched.

Harry could hear Remus stop moving completely before slowing accepting the chocolate. They worked in silence for a few more minutes before Harry shut the book he was reading. It was the transfiguration book for second year and Harry was reading it to keep up with his read-all-the-course-books-by-the-end-of-second-year plan.

Harry walked off to place the book back on the library shelf then went back to the table to collect his bag. He moved past Remus and nudged his shoulder slightly in farewell, as their tradition goes. Remus would usually get to the library first between the two of them and would also leave later than Harry. In order to not disrupt the silence, Harry would always find a way to silently say goodbye to Remus.

When Harry got back to the common room, he did a quick look to see if anyone he knew was there. However, the room was nearly empty so he made his way to the dormitory. When he got there, he took little notice of Pettigrew, who was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, and instead looked towards his brother and Sirius.

They were involved in a game of chess, but Sirius clearly wasn't paying it much attention. While he wasn't as good as Ron (his heart did a small pang when he thought of the temperamental, red-haired wizard, but Harry skillfully ignored it), he was still a natural at strategies. While James seemed to be giving the game his all, Sirius was absently commanding game pieces while his eyes never left the book in his hands. Looking at it, Harry faintly recognized it as the book Remus got him for Yule.

Harry sighed; he was bored and no one was available to distract him. Gloomily, Harry turned and decided to head to the owlery and pen a letter to his parents. He usually wrote them once every week or two, but he hadn't done so since they came back from winter vacation.

"Hey there, boy," Harry cooed when he reached the large, open room. "Could you take a letter to mum and dad, please, Nuntius?" The owl merely tilted its head and made a sound of understanding. Harry sighed and thought back to Hedwig, who was so much smarter than any owl he could ever hope to meet.

"Thanks, boy." And Harry sat and wrote a general letter containing everything exciting that happened since returning (so nothing, because he couldn't very well tell them about sneaking around and finding passageways. Which, by the way, they still hadn't explored because their weekend ended up being too busy). He fastened the letter to Nun and watched as he soared out the window.

Harry sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time that day alone. He was bored again.

* * *

Harry sat on the window ledge two days later, sometime after midnight. He was again worried about Remus and what condition he would arrive back at the castle in. He shifted his position slightly and squinted towards the trees, trying to see some movement or hear a howl.

He jumped when he instead heard the sound of fabric across stone and looked up in surprise. There, sitting next to him on the window was Sirius, looking deep in thought and fairly troubled. Harry knew immediately what it meant.

"How did you find out?" Harry finally asked, breaking the silence with his soft words. Wordlessly, Sirius motioned over towards where a book was laying on the ground. A quick glance told him it was the book he had been reading earlier from Remus. However, it took a closer look and thinking back to the break to remember that it was on magical creatures.

_How ironic_, he snorted to himself. _He manages to hide it from them for a few months, but is found out by his own gift_.

"He's also a really guilty liar," Sirius added quietly and Harry hummed in agreement.

"His mother can only get sick so often," Harry mumbled.

There was silence for a few more minutes until the Black heir spoke again. "Do you think he's okay out there?"

"I reckon so," Harry said. "He's probably been doing this for a while, he must have some way he stays safe." The boys fell quiet again until Sirius finally addressed the topic avoided.

"Should we tell Remus we know? Should we tell James?" Harry swallowed and looked down to where his fingers were twisting nervously.

"I don't think… we should tell James yet. We should probably let him figure it out on his own. But with how oblivious he is-"

Sirius knew exactly what Harry meant by that. "He might not figure it out for years," he finished for him. Harry nodded and continued.

"And I don't want to leave Remus without comfort for so long."

"Do you know how he'd react?" Harry looked back up, confused.

"Who? Remus or-"

"James. I mean, do you know how he would react to Remus being…"

Harry was unsurprised by the worry in his friend's eye. However, he was not sure who the worry was meant for. "I don't know. Our personal views on creatures have never been brought up before. But Siri, you know how he is. He would do anything for his friends; I highly doubt this will really affect the way he sees Remus."

Sirius let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He yawned and scooted on the ledge until he was able to jump softly back on the floor of the dormitory. "I'm going to bed, Ry. You should really get some rest, too."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'll only be a minute. Goodnight."

Contrary to his words, he sat on the ledge for well over half of an hour more trying to sort his thoughts. So Sirius knew one month earlier than he should have. At least there wasn't a bad reaction. But then when would James find out? Harry bit his lip and stared into the trees for a little longer.

* * *

One full day later, when the boys woke up to see Remus' bed occupied, Sirius and Harry shared a mutual dark look when they saw new scratches around the brunette's collarbone. To Harry, fifth year and animagus transformations seemed impossibly far off.

* * *

For the first time since being at Hogwarts, someone besides Remus was up before Harry.

Sirius Black woke Harry Potter up on February 14 with a loud, wet kiss on the cheek.

"Wha- Gods, Siri! That's disgusting!" He tried to wipe it from his face but Sirius just replaced it with another one.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ry! I love you _very much_!" Harry just scowled.

"Why the bloody hell are you so uppity on a day like today? We're _eleven_; we don't do Valentine's Day."

Sirius' pout was one that would make even the macho-ist of macho men waver. Added with the fake tears… really, Harry was done for. "Does that mean you," he sniffled. _Merlin, he _sniffled – _he decided to pull all of the tricks today, huh? _"You don't want the chocolate I bought for you?"

Harry immediately tried to correct what he said and was denying that he didn't want the chocolate when he suddenly stopped short and gave Sirius an unimpressed stare.

"Nice one, Siri," he said flatly and the boy laughed before wiping his eyes.

"I really thought I had you! I thought for sure you would take a chocolate within the next ten seconds!"

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at the tampered chocolate with distrust. "Just don't use it on Remus, yeah? Or, at least, no more than one or maybe two if he seems fine with it." The other boy easily agreed and Sirius went off to perfect his charming look, hoping to have even third year girls accepting his offered chocolate. And if they suddenly begin to resemble farm animals, he can always claim ignorance.

* * *

NOW FOR MY QUESTIONS

1) When should James find out? How?

2) What are some other ideas for secret passages and what should be found in them?

3) I already know how I'm going to go about the communication parchments, but during which year should the mirrors be introduced? The map? When should they become animagi?

4) And - perhaps most importantly - what the hell do I do with Pettigrew, sorry, _Peter_?

Love you lots, xx


	15. Chapter 15

Goodness me! I can't tell you how surprised I was when I saw how many of you want Peter dead!

Thank you all so much for giving me opinions on what to do with little things... you helped a lot! I have the basic outline for the first five or so Hogwarts years, but none of the small details, so I'm not able to quickly type up chapters.

17 reviews for chapter fourteen! Wow! Also, **THIS IS IMPORTANT:** I mentioned Fate in this chapter. I think since so many of you didn't like the idea of having Fate, I will leave the whole side-plot where I did here. This means, **no more Fate**. Some day, I will probably go back and delete it's sections completely (other than the first chapter).

I'm so sorry this is a month late! I was working on Enraptured and Entwined (a TMR/HP 14K words oneshot I have finished and uploaded... read it and tell me what you think?) and because I put so much time and effort into my pointless writings, I'm in serious danger of failing Chem.

This isn't very long, but I hit a major block 1000 words in, sorry!

ANYWAYS! Enjoy :) xoxox

**CHAPTER 15**

* * *

"Gross! Is this supposed to be food?" The four Marauders looked at the green… _stuff_ with disgust scribed on their faces.

"At one point, it was probably something someone smuggled down here as a stash." Remus observed.

"Well it's gross now! It's green and fuzzy and _Merlin_ that's awful!" James covered his nose with his hand and squinted. "It must've been down here for years!"

Harry looked quietly around the passage the boys had found two weeks prior. There wasn't much there (other than the moldy "food" they found in a bag) and the hallways all went to dead ends, so it was almost a pointless exploration. Only _almost_ because one good thing had come out of it – a small pranking pamphlet with four spells that had Sirius and James literally jumping up and down in elation.

"If you use all of those on Slytherins, I'm telling mum." Harry quickly butted in and James visually deflated.

"Come on, Ry! You're no fun; who else are we going to prank?"

"Um, Ravenclaws?" He replied, as if it was a stupid question for James to ask (which it was). "Or Hufflepuffs. Or, hell, not pranking Gryffindor gives away our house way too quickly, so any Gryffs you don't like."

Sirius spoke up when it didn't look like James would stop pouting anytime soon. "I don't care who we use the other spells on, but I reserve the balding one for my cousin."

"Which one?" Harry asked, hoping it wasn't Andromeda since she was better than the others. He knew it couldn't be Bellatrix because she had graduated the year before, so he figured it was Narcissa. Still, he decided he would ask just in case.

"Narcissa," Ah, so he was right. "She's been acting too pompous lately, even on my standards." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but if you get disemboweled, it's not my fault."

"Really, Ry, it'll grow back!"

"Yeah, but they wrote here that it takes a few hours. That's plenty enough time for her to go running to your aunt or uncle and for you to be blamed." Sirius bit his lip but had to concede that Harry had a point.

"I'll just have to make sure she doesn't suspect it's me, then."

"Okay then, Siri," Harry decided to simply agree with the pureblood and save the trouble an argument would cause. "When will you use it?"

Sirius looked at the pamphlet in contemplation. "Tomorrow, I think. Or maybe just the next time I see her in the hallways. As long as she doesn't see me, she won't be able to place the blame on me." The others nodded; it made sense.

The boys decided to make their way back to the dormitory and decide the victims of the other three spells. They stopped only once on the way when Harry took Peridot from Lily's shoulder. His little kitten (who had grown a good inch or two since he first bought her) had decided she was her favorite person and now refused to let her go to anyone else other than her owner. So Harry took Peri, placed her on his mop of hair, (ignored the cooing of the other girls), and they made their way to the boy's first-year dorm.

When they got there, they found Petti- _Peter_ penning a letter on the floor. James and Remus didn't react to his presence other than to say hello, but Sirius stopped walking and Harry faltered behind him.

"Hi," he said back to the boys. "What're you guys doing?" He looked warily at the pamphlet in Sirius' hand. "Are you planning something?" He asked suspiciously. James vehemently denied it. Harry took a deep breath; he hadn't done anything bad yet, right? He was just a kid.

"Yes, actually," Harry spoke up and everyone looked at him in surprise, and Sirius in slight betrayal. Harry never instigated conversation with Peter if he could help it. "How did you know?" Peter shrugged and returned to his writing.

"You've all got that look again. Y'know, the one you make at night sometimes and then the next day there's a prank. 'S not so hard to figure out you've done it." Remus smiled and sat next to the blonder boy.

"We found a few spells we want to try out, yes." Peter nodded in understanding but didn't again remove his eyes from his letter. The other boys joined Remus in a circle on the floor.

"Alright," the brunette began. "Let's get everything a little more organized. We're using the balding one on Narcissa Black. On whom will we use the warts one?" Sirius looked up with an evil grin that made Harry and Remus frown with disapproval.

"On Snivellus, of course! And the odor one we can use on all of the slimy Slytherins because they care most about appearances."

"Other than you," James teased and Sirius tackled him. All four boys were startled when they heard Peter's voice, though it sounded more like the Peter from the beginning of the year because his opinion was back to being littered with nervous stutters. "Maybe… y-you shouldn't attack the Slytherins-"

"And why not?" Sirius demanded with a glare.

Peter tried to give a defiant gaze of his own, but ended up ducking his head in submission. "You didn' let me f-finish. You shouldn't attack them all at once. Like, uh, using th' spell on the first-years first, then the next day th' second years an' so on. Then they know that it's coming but can't stop it."

"Psychological torture," James considered with an appraising look towards Peter, ignoring Sirius' '_do you even know what that means?_' "Not bad, Peter. I like it."

"Well I don't." Harry interrupted. And the others looked at him. Sirius with pride that he'd rejected a Pettigrew idea, James a little miffed and with confusion, Peter with hurt, and Remus looked mentally only half there. It seemed he was currently deep in his head trying to figure out how he felt about the idea.

"It's cruel, at least the way you put it. You know how much they care about appearances. By doing that, you're ruining something that matters to them. How would you feel if someone you hated ruined quidditch?"

James shook his head. "That's not the same thing and you know it, Ry. You've said it yourself before: appearances aren't worth caring about-"

"That was like two years ago!"

"-and right now, Slytherins are caring too much. Really, we're only doing them a favor."

"And _how_, exactly, is this a _favor_ for them?" Harry demanded. "By making them feel embarrassed?"

"They're Slytherins, Harry, they don't _feel_!"

"Damn you James, they're people too!" Harry scowled. James scoffed. Peter whimpered. Remus and Sirius wisely stayed quiet.

"They're all going to grow up and be dark wizards and you know it!" James and Harry stood eye to eye with each other, a deafening silence surrounding them. Abruptly, Harry whirled around and stalked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Remus finally spoke up. He watched Harry worriedly.

"It's been too long since I've written Mum a letter." The threat was clear in his statement. James yelped quietly.

"Wait, no, I didn't mean it, I-" he tried to backtrack desperately. When you are eleven, the "I'm telling Mum" threat was the largest one there was. Harry turned and slowly walked back to his spot on the floor.

"Perhaps a compromise?" Remus suggested and the twins nodded.

"Use the spell on the Slytherins if you really want to, James, but no torturing them." He nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah, alright. Sorry Peter." The mentioned boy was looking down with a beet red face. He shook his head rapidly, showing that there was no need for apologies, but his eyes remained glued to the paper.

Remus breathed out softly and tried again to settle everything. "Okay, so we will use the odor one on the Slytherins-"

"Maybe only the older students?" Sirius offered. "To throw them off of the idea that it's a group of firsties doing the pranks?"

Remus nodded encouragingly. "Alright, fifth to seventh year Slytherins for odor spell. Narcissa Black for balding spell. Severus Snape for warts spell…" he trailed off. James asked him what was wrong. "Nothing, nothing, I just…" he bit his lip. "Do we have to target Snape for all of the time?"

This time, it was Sirius who spoke out. "Of course we do, Remy! He's our enemy!" Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Didn't they _just_ have this argument?

Before he let it get out of hand, Harry spoke. "We'll use it on Snape. But our next two pranks will _not_ be used on any Slytherins, and especially not on Snape. Okay?" When Sirius opened his mouth Harry glared fiercely. "_Okay?_"

The others nodded.

* * *

The warts spell did end up getting used on Severus Snape. The prank was executed during one of their potions classes and James told him that he now fit the description of a muggle witch. He got a week's detention for it. He claims the look on Snape's face was worth every minute of scrubbing floors with Filch.

Narcissa was also balded, which left her fleeing the hallway in tears, and the older snakes suddenly began to smell terrible at breakfast one day. Much to the displeasure of James and Sirius, the Slytherins were released of classes that day.

And when they couldn't agree on what to do with the forth spell, one which makes everyone's ears go large, they decided to simply cast it on as many students as they could. However, Hufflepuffs were curiously good at dodging spells that come from seemingly nowhere and Ravenclaws used third year shrinking spells to return their appendages to normal. There was also an unspoken agreement not to aim for Slytherins (for James and Sirius were both still too afraid of what Harry would do to them if they would) and only Remus and Harry performed any on Gryffindors.

Also during this time, Harry awoke one morning to find a piece of golden thread on his bedside table, snipped cleanly in half. It felt faintly of Fate's magic and Harry had an odd feeling that it was supposed to be an apology. He threw the two halves of the thread in his trunk and didn't look at them again.

After Harry resolved to simply forget about Fate, he decided to focus his attention on more important matters. Namely: Remus' monthly escapades.

Harry and Sirius decided in late March to try and get James to figure out the truth on his own. However, they knew it would take him some time so they decided to leave little hints. One day, Sirius left his book open to the werewolf page and placed it where he knew James would see (and Remus would not). When James did little more than glance at it, Harry decided to really get him thinking about the subject.

"James?" Harry asked. They were watching the last quidditch match of the season. Sirius sat on the other side of James but was too engrossed in the game to listen in on their conversation.

"Yeah, bro?" James asked and Harry pondered how to ask his question.

"Do you think werewolves are bad creatures?" He was thankful Remus decided to study for the end-of-year exams instead of watch the game – it was Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff and for the Cup.

When James answered, he was distracted. Harry was thankful because then he would probably get more truthful answers. "Depends on the day. If it's a full moon then hell yes they're dangerous. Kind of like how Remus could be dangerous on days he hasn't had chocolate, or when he's come back from his mum's house." He stopped talking when he stood to shout insults at one of the Ravenclaw beaters.

Harry, however, took in a sharp breath and stayed seated. Did he know? No, no, he didn't. He was just making a random connection. But if he thought over the conversation later, he could easily realize that the facts all matched up.

And the answer he gave, while not the most assuring, still convinced Harry that James wouldn't condemn Remus or out him. Harry smiled slightly and caught Sirius' eye, nodding to him to show that things should be okay.

And, true to Harry's thoughts, it wasn't even two days later that James stalked up to his younger twin and best friend and stared down at them. "How long have you known?" He demanded and the boys exchanged looks. Since they were in the middle of the library (Remus had lured them with Bertie Bott's in order to get them to study. James had detention – again), Sirius pulled James away to a private section so they could talk about it quietly. Remus stared after them, bemused and slightly concerned.

"Is everything alright?" He asked and Harry cocked his head.

"Yes," he replied. "I think so." And they were. The three boys sat down and talked about it that evening and tried to figure out what to do about it – starting with whether or not to tell Remus they knew. Sirius voted yes – "so we can try to help him" – while James was surprisingly more pessimistic – "what could we possibly do to help? Become werewolves ourselves?" Harry bit his lip and didn't partake in the conversation, since he already knew they would eventually decide on animagus training.

Instead, when Remus and Peter entered the room, it was Harry's job to keep them from hearing the discussion.

"So…" Harry would freely admit to being the worst person to distract someone. "How are you, Remus?"

Said boy raised his eyebrows and watched Harry suspiciously. "I'm pretty okay, Harry, how are you?"

Harry rocked on his heels. "Me? Oh I'm grand. Real swell, you know?" When Remus only stared Harry cleared his throat. "And you, Peter? How have you been?"

"I'm good. Lily has been helping me a lot with studying, so I don't need to spend so much time worrying." Harry nodded.

"That's good. That's real good." It went silent again. "So… it's been getting warmer lately, wouldn't you say, Rem?" Off in the corner, Harry thought he could hear Sirius slap his forehead in exasperation.


	16. Chapter 16

MERRY CHRISTMAS! My present to you!

I hope your holidays were delightful (and if you don't celebrate any this time of year, I hope the weather was nice) and I hope you got everything you wanted :)

This is quite a pointless chapter. Ah, well... I like it anyways :) Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 16

Harry sat in the large chair in the Gryffindor common room. His knees were pulled up to his chest and a book balanced precariously on them. He was tucked in one of the corners of the chair, easily overlooked by anyone not paying enough attention.

He was mumbling softly to himself – actually, he was reading along to his book. It was the one Remus had gotten him: the Edgar Allen Poe one. Harry had given Remus an Oscar Wilde book a few weeks prior for his twelfth birthday and wouldn't be surprised if he got another muggle book in return the next day for his and James' birthday.

Harry smiled when he turned the page. The next short story was "The Tell-Tale Heart" and Harry was excited to read it. It was the only one he remembered from before so he couldn't wait to read it again and see if he remembered it correctly. Unfortunately, he resolved to read the book in order so it had taken him a while to get to it.

His smile turning into a small, mischievous smirk, Harry began to read the first paragraph louder as to annoy his friends. Near him, James and Sirius both took a side of a three-person couch and Remus was alone on one half of a loveseat.

"_True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am-_" Harry was not even through the first sentence when James groaned and threw his quidditch magazine at his head.

"Shut up, Ry, we're all too old for story time." At that, Sirius and Harry both snorted.

"_Some_ of us, maybe," Sirius sniggered and Harry laughed louder. To annoy his brother further, Harry began again only louder. That time, he made it not even halfway before James was up and dragging Harry off of his chair and on to the floor.

"James!" Harry cried out between gales of laughter but James did not relent. Sirius and Remus watched with smiles on their faces as the older twin took Harry's book away and threw it haphazardly in the loveseat's general direction.

"Shush!" He demanded and grabbed his thrown magazine before returning to his spot on the sofa. Harry remained on the floor, pouting adorably, until he suddenly perked up.

He crawled on his knees to the loveseat and hoisted himself up. He grabbed his book, opened it to the correct page, and rested it on his thighs as he stretched his legs out until his feet were settled comfortably in Remus' lap. He read a few paragraphs silently until the other boys stopped watching him warily, waiting for him to begin again, and then smirked. He quickly put up a weak shielding spell, and continued.

"_I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture-a pale blue eye, with a film over it._"

James, who had run out of items to throw, snorted loudly. "Sounds like Mad-Eye Moody," he said with a laugh and Harry joined in. Alastor had joined the Potter family for dinner a few times over the years due to Charlus' occupation as Head Auror and Moody's as one of the best Aurors there were, though he had retired now two years before. Sirius and Remus, who had both never met the man, didn't react to the joke. Harry continued.

"_Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees-very gradually-I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever._"

On the other sofa, James choked. "No wonder Moody's so damn paranoid!" He cried out between strangled laughter. "Do you think anyone looks at him and thinks they need to kill him because of his eye?" Harry rolled his own gem green eyes and tried to explain the ex-Auror to their clueless friends.

"He's the best Auror there is, but it's made him really suspicious of everything – and everyone. He's retired now, but when he was still working, he got into a few fights. He's now lacking an eye and a leg and has scars everywhere else."

Remus' eyes were wide and Sirius looked thoughtful. "I think I've seen him before," the pureblood said. James replied that it wouldn't surprise him if he did.

"He's everywhere!" The bespectacled boy cried. Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to his book.

"_Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly-very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place his whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha!-would a madman have been so wise as this?_"

"He must've been a Black," Sirius snorted. Harry and James laughed loudly but Remus covered his mouth with his hand as to not offend Sirius with his giggles. Sirius raised his eyebrows at the werewolf. "My family's insane. I can admit that easier than most." Remus finally laughed freely.

"_Yes, he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. _All in vain; _because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim._"

"The Deathly Hallows!" James shouted and conversation in the common room momentarily paused as everyone briefly glanced towards the quartet of boys. Harry ducked his head in secondhand embarrassment but James merely beamed and soaked up the attention.

Remus was looking at the book in curiosity. "I know he was a squib, so do you think he really had seen some illusion of Death?"

Harry bit his lip and shrugged. "Maybe he was basing it off of thestrals?" He wondered and realized too late that he wasn't supposed to be able to see them; bearing in mind that he hadn't yet seen death in this life. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.

Remus nodded. "Yes, they are described as black and ghostly, aren't they?" The boys were silent with their thoughts and Harry looked down at the short story. He decided now wasn't the best time to continue and packed the book away. He shuffled down the loveseat, placed his heels more firmly in Remus' lap, and simply listened to the other occurring conversations.

* * *

"HAPPY BIR-"

"No."

James stopped in his exclamation and pouted down at his brother. Harry didn't even open his eyes to see him.

"You're awake. That's good! Now we have to go eat! Help me wake Siri up, will you?"

"No."

"Har-_ry!_ Don't be such a spoilsport! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Why aren't you getting up?"

"James," Harry began, trying to be patient. "Do me a favor. Tell me what time it is." James opened his mouth to reply but then shut it with a bashful smile when he realized he did not know. He cast a _tempus_ – a spell they had only learned two weeks prior that James still liked to do randomly just to show that he could – and pulled his lips in his mouth when he saw the time.

"Uh… quarter after four."

Harry let out a long hiss. "That's even earlier than last year. Okay, James, this is what's going to happen. You're going to go back to bed and let Siri and Remy sleep in a little longer, and you're not going to wake me again because it's my birthday too and _damn it_ I'm sleeping in for once." With that, he rolled over and buried his face deep in the cotton pillows.

"But, but… but I'm hungry, Ry!"

"The great hall isn't even open yet, J," Harry spoke, his voice muffled. "If you want to eat so bad, go find the kitchen."

* * *

"HARRY! SIRI! REMY! I FOUND THE KITCHEN!"

And well. Wasn't _that_ something to wake Harry up?

Apparently the other boys were thinking along the same lines because suddenly they were all crowding around James waiting for the story.

"Where is it?" Sirius asked excitedly, rubbing his eyes fiercely to get the sleep out of them. "How did you find it?"

"Well, Ry kicked me out of the room this morning so I decided to go do something by mys-"

"That is _not_ what happened!" Harry interrupted, affronted. "I told you to go back to bed, first!"

James went to retort but Sirius cut him off with a frantic wave of his hand. "Shush, both of you. That doesn't matter, tell us where it is!"

James puffed up. "So I decided to find the kitchens! I thought it would be by the great hall, since that's where we eat and all, and I searched the hallways from top to bottom and spoke to every single portrait-" Harry rolled his eyes. He highly doubted that was how it went, but the other two boys seemed enraptured, so he let it go.

The boys watched as James paused and heaved a great sigh. "But, alas, the search bore no fruit." He looked forlorn and the room was silent until Sirius bounced up and down impatiently.

"Well? Then what?"

"I couldn't find it so I decided to search around where the great hall was, only up and down a floor. I was running out of time so I only looked at the pictures with any kind of food in it. I found one of a fruit basket, tapped each of the fruits, and the door opened when my finger slipped on the pear! So all you have to do is tickle the pear and voila! The kitchens!"

Remus and Sirius both looked impressed, and Harry schooled his face so he did as well. He had already known where the kitchens were, but he was very surprised that James managed to find it in only their first year.

"So," James turned up his nose and made a haughty 'hn' noise. "What do you say?"

"Take us there?" Sirius guessed and then laughed at James' indignant look. "Take us there… please?"

When James didn't move, Harry looked up to the ceiling and blew out a big breath.

"We worship you, oh great one. Please take pity on us, your meek servants, and direct us to your humble scope." Harry said it in a bored voice that had Sirius stifling laughter and Remus biting his lip to refrain from smiling too widely.

Even though James undoubtedly realized that Harry was mocking him, he still stood tall with pride and nodded, telling them to get dressed, "stat!" They did so, and it was only then that Harry realized it was still dark out.

"James," he began in a warning tone. "Tell me it's not before six still."

The older boy smiled nervously. "It's not before six."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "_James;_ don't lie to me." The older boy threw up his hands.

"I'm not lying! Really!" Not believing him, Harry grabbed his wand from his bed and cast a _tempus_ himself; and then promptly groaned. It was only five after six.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, James! What is it with you and early mornings?"

The other boy rolled his eyes and stood. "It's our birthday, Ry! We're allowed to order people around _all day_ – and you sit here and waste it away!"

At this, both Sirius and Remus perked up from where they were watching with silent amusement. "Oh, yeah! Happy Birthday!" Harry turned and smiled at them with a "thank you".

"Come on, Harry, can't you just get up? For me? I'll let you sleep in next year!" Harry scoffed and muttered a "liar" under his breath. James pretended not to hear him. It was also not mentioned that Harry had a smile on his lips and amusement shining in his eyes.

* * *

James led them down the hallways and staircases until they finally approached a still life painting of fruit. They watched in wonder as he tickled the pear and the painting opened – only enough to slide through.

As soon as they were all in, they turned around and found themselves on the receiving end of over two hundred large eyes.

"Great James Potter brought friends!" They cried and Harry smiled at how much they were like Dobby.

"Hello everyone," James greeted amicably. They all jumped up and down in response. "Is it alright if a few of my friends get some breakfast?" They nodded frantically.

"What can Millie bes getting James Potter's friends?" The house elf that looked to be in charge asked. She was much more relaxed than the others.

"We all want pancakes!" James declared and Harry looked over at him suspiciously.

"James… I'm not have a contest if that's what you-" James cut Harry off with a hand over his mouth.

"That… is exactly what we're doing." He gave a blinding smile and turned to Sirius and Remus. "We have this tradition-"

"That _you_ invented and enforce!"

"-and we have a contest every year to see who can eat more breakfast! Do you want to join?" Sirius agreed immediately, and Remus did as well after some persuasion. With reluctance, Harry joined as well.

Remus and Harry both, however, did not actually try to win. It was apparent from the start that this was going to be between Sirius and James when they both ate two pancakes in under two minutes.

It went by quickly and James put up a valiant effort, but in the end Sirius won with nine pancakes. James pouted for longer than he would have admitted and Sirius continued to hold it over him by the time they were getting into bed that night.

Harry let them be and Remus was strangely quiet. The raven-haired boy found out why the next day.

"You guys were awful nice to the house elves," Remus said to Harry suddenly while they were waiting for the other two boys to get ready. Harry hummed in acknowledgment.

"We have no reason not to be. They're very loyal, and it would simply be rude to take advantage of that." Remus didn't make eye contact. Harry had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Are… you like that with all creatures? Even… dark ones?"

Harry smiled faintly. He knew it. "Well, I've never had a creature hurt me, so until I do I'm going to keep an open mind. I don't really want to hate things I don't know. Do you understand what I mean? Anyways, I know for a fact James and Sirius think along the same lines as me. What do you think?"

Remus hesitated before answering. "I think… that's a really nice way of looking at it. But don't you think they could be really dangerous?" If Harry didn't know that Remus was talking about himself, he might have been offended at the blatant mistrust he had of creatures.

"Of course they could be. But most of them – especially the humanoid ones – have regular hearts and brains like the rest of us. Why should I condemn them for something they – in most cases – can't control and had no become?"

Remus was quiet. "Yeah," he said finally. "You're right. You're right. Thanks Harry."

Harry smiled at the other two boys as the emerged from the dormitory. "What for? All I did was speak my mind. I should be thanking _you_ for giving me the opportunity to do so."

They traveled to their first class in thoughtful silence.


	17. Chapter 17

Hello all! I really want to thank you, firstly, because it has been a full month since I last updated and I didn't get a single scathing review telling me to hurry up :)

I do have a reason for this, though I suppose it could be called an excuse. Midterm week was last week and this upcoming one. I was close to failing chem so I got my grade up and studied non stop for my test last Thursday - I got an 88 and couldn't be happier :) but tomorrow is my world midterm and damn it I have no chance of passing that one.

ANYWAYS, to make up for it I made this chapter my longest one since chapter... 4, I think. Though it might be a little boring and wordy, so I'm sorry :(

Wish me luck on my test :) I love you all, enjoy this chapter :)

CHAPTER 17

"Lady Stephanie, it's wonderful to see you again," Harry said sweetly to one of the portraits. The other three marauders exchanged exasperated looks while Harry ignored them. Sirius spoke up in an amused tone.

"Harry, we really don't have time to flirt with the portraits, now come on if we want to get to breakfast before it ends." The shorter boy sighed but went with them.

"And really, half of the paintings already swoon in your presence alone. Do you really need to 'establish more connections' when you already have so many?" James added.

Harry sniffed. "You're just jealous that they like me better than you."

"This is true," Sirius said while nodding smartly. "Of course, no one really likes Jamie all that much anyways…" laughter followed the punch to the arm Sirius received for that statement. "So violent," the Black heir pouted. "Who knew you would be the abusive one in our relationship?"

James rolled his eyes and the boys continued their walk to the great hall. Once they got there, they each ate hearty breakfasts, being sure to avoid the sausage patties. It took a great deal to convince the house elves to allow James to pour a few drops of a potion into the pans they were using, but the end result would surely be worth the hard work.

It took only a few minutes until there were visible effects. A fourth year Gryffindor's face began to turn a darker pink by the second until finally, her face was beet red and everyone around her was laughing. However, the amusement was short-lived when their skin began doing the same.

It took longer than Harry expected for the other houses to notice most of the Gryffindors turn their house color, but when they did it spread quickly and hands were gesturing in mere seconds. They were all laughing uproariously while trying to figure out who played such a great prank and Sirius, too preoccupied with watching everyone to notice what he was shoveling in his mouth, didn't realize that James had slipped something on his plate until fingers were pointed at him as well.

Despite their common teasing, the four marauders knew that Sirius was in fact very intelligent. Therefore, James should have suspected that the pureblood would realize exactly what had happened as soon as it occurred. James also should have prepared for retribution. However, unfortunately, James had never been as smart as Sirius and was consequently surprised when he suddenly had a mouthful of sausage patties.

Any vengeance was cut short when part two of the prank began. Similar to how the Gryffs turned red, it took little time for most of the Ravens to turn dark blue. And it only took one angry eagle to shove food down a Hufflepuff's throat – not unlike what Sirius had just done – to unleash chaos in the great hall. Students left and right were turning red and blue and the marauders sat in the midst of it all, with Harry and Remus both eating some sausage to blend in with the others.

Sirius looked over at Remus and nodded. The werewolf gave a small, proud grin and pulled out his wand. After making sure no one was paying attention, he cast a quick spell focused on the air above the staff table. Before everyone's eyes, a large 'M' in fancy script appeared, glowed brightly, and then faded away. It was of the same font as the 'M' on their identical necklaces from Christmas.

The hall was silent before it was filled with eager questions, wondering who, exactly, was 'M' and if they were the ones who had done all of the pranks so far this year. The four friends smirked at each other and then turned to their housemates to join in their excited conversations.

"Who do you think it could be?" Lily Evans asked, her eyes glittering. James puffed up.

"It must have been someone pretty great! Better than anyone else!" Lily nodded her agreement.

"Maybe that sixth year Hufflepuff? You know the one I mean, Mary – the one with the short hair." James bristled.

"Who is he if he thinks he's better than us?" He whispered to Sirius angrily. The other boy rolled his eyes.

"Well, he's a sixth year for one, so don't go challenging him to a duel, Jamie."

"But he thinks he's better than The Marauders!"

Harry sighed and decided to chip in. "James? We're firsties. All older kids are better than us right now." James huffed but didn't say anything again. His face was ever redder than from the prank – but whether from anger or embarrassment Harry didn't know.

The rest of the meal passed quickly and soon enough the boys headed back to the common room to gather their books and readied themselves for the day ahead. They had defense and double transfiguration to look forward to, so it shouldn't be too hard of a Wednesday.

And it wasn't. In defense they were assigned the task of reading a small portion of the chapter and listing the way shield spells differed from barrier spells (certain shields could be moved when the wand was while barriers were always stationary, was one example). It was simple so all four boys were done quickly.

After a few moments of boredom in which the Ravenclaws continued to analyze the text and write theories that had nothing to do with the writing they had just read, James unrolled a blank piece of parchment. Harry and Remus watched from the table behind him while Sirius tilted his head as he began to write.

**I'm bored.** He wrote. **Who's up for a game of quidditch later?** James then showed the paper briefly to Sirius, who grinned, and bent back on his stood discreetly to give the note to Harry and Rem. The werewolf bit his lip and fiddled with his quill before reaching a little to grab the parchment and reply.

**Isn't that against the rules?**

Harry took the paper and wrote next. **And wasn't it raining earlier?**

Sirius swiped the thick paper and read the responses before huffing and bending down to scribble quickly. James added something to it and they gave it back to the other two. They didn't bother being subtle as they folded their arms and cocked their heads in startling synchronization.

**What does it matter if it's against the rules? If we aren't seen it won't matter.**

**Rain from this morning won't do anything about a game now. It's not like we play on the ground, that'd be weird.**

Harry rolled his eyes and penned back: **Siri, we'll be playing in the open air. Everyone could see us. The chances of being caught are extremely high.** James went to take back the scroll but Harry held it tight and wrote again. **Easter break is next week. Come to ours and we can play then. Rem, you too.**

Remus looked surprised at the invitation, something that pulled at the purebloods' heart strings, but Sirius nodded as if he'd expected the invitation.

**Does Dorea miss me?** He wrote flamboyantly.** I'm not surprised; I have, after all, always been her favorite.**

James snorted and Harry covered his grin with a hand. All four boys looked away and tried to seem normal when they noticed Professor Mallinway look over. They had to remain like that for over a minute as she kept glancing at the quartet, waiting to find them engaged in conversation.

Remus took the paper next. **I don't think I can, sorry. I have-** here, he hesitated. **-previous engagements already lined up.**

_Full moon. _Harry assumed. He hadn't checked when the next one would be for a few days now and therefore wasn't certain when it was during the week.

Sirius, however, apparently did.

**C'mon, Remy! Just come join us Wednesday or Thursday after you get over the moon.**

"Sirius!" Harry whisper-yelled. That was _not_ how they had planned on slipping it to Remus that they knew. Not at _all_.

"What?" He whispered back. They faintly noticed Mallinway looking around to find who was talking. "I was getting impatient!" He dropped his voice even lower. "He's a werewolf, we know, and we don't care. And I want to see him in the air since we haven't yet."

The three purebloods looked over to Remus, who had gone deathly pale. Harry squinted his eyes, feeling sympathetic towards the young boy who was no doubt currently in an emotional turmoil. The green-eyed boy inched his stool closer to Remus' and touched his arm softly.

"We really don't care," he said quietly. "And we want to do what we can to help. Not that there is much, and we don't know how, but we'd still like to try."

"You four," the marauders looked up at the sound of a woman's voice. "Five points from Gryffindor each. No conversing while others are trying to work."

"Yes Professor Mallinway," Remus mumbled, still looking off at nothing. The woman walked away and the group was silent as they waited for a reaction from the tawny-haired boy. The minutes ticked by slowly and it seemed forever until the class ended and the four friends entered the hallway.

Harry turned to continue reassuring Remus but found James already doing so. "You know, our dad told 'Ry and I once about how he was sent to capture a werewolf that was apparently killing a lot of people in a town." Remus went even paler and Harry fought to stop James. He didn't recall such a story, but surely James wouldn't mention anything that would be more hurtful than helpful.

"There were deaths every week and the anti-creature enthusiasts were using it as an example of how they were dangerous at all times." Now, Remus was looking decidedly green and Sirius was waving his arms in a '_DON'T CONTINUE_' fashion. James ignored both. "While he was on the mission, Dad caught four wizards, one of which was a serial killer, and two muggles. They were all responsible for at least one of the deaths. It took him another three weeks to find the werewolf and when he finally did, he was later tried and revealed as clean of all crimes alleged.

"My point is that you're not bad. We know you're not bad. You're actually the best and the nicest of the four of us. So, will you come to our house and play quidditch with us? We'll bribe you with chocolate if you even consider saying no."

The others waited. Remus coughed. "I could hurt you," he said finally. "If I let the wolf take control… I could hurt you so easily." Sirius moved in between Remus and James and slung his arm around the former's shoulders. They all noticed they were approaching McGonagall's classroom.

"If I got mad enough my Black insanity would be very apparent, trust me. It's nothing I can control. It's the same type of thing for you. Now come on, we need to prove to Jamie that he isn't the best at transfiguration."

Remus only nodded faintly – barely visible. He seemed to be running on autopilot, though Harry didn't blame him. After all, it wasn't every day someone learns that not one or two, but three people know your biggest secret. Class that day was quiet as both Sirius and James seemed to understand that they couldn't push Remus to accept their blasé attitudes.

Once McGonagall let them out, Remus took his usual turn towards the library. The other three marauders exchanged unsure looks – who should follow him? Should any follow at all? It was known but unspoken between them that James and Sirius were closest and as were Remus and Harry. But maybe he was more concerned with the reactions of the other two?

"He knows I don't mind," James said quietly. "At least, after what I already told him I should hope he knows."

Harry nodded. "And I've mentioned time and time before that I have nothing against creatures." They both turned to look at Sirius – James expectantly and Harry with hope.

The Black heir huffed a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Wait for us back in the dorm; I'll bring him back there once he's snapped out of his funk."

And so the twins left for the Gryffindor common room and Sirius Black traveled quickly to the other side of the castle and up a flight of stairs until he reached the large library. He was slightly surprised when he saw Remus talking quietly to Lily Evans. When had they become good friends?

Waving the thoughts away, Sirius approached the werewolf and sat at the seat next to him and diagonal from the redhead.

"Hello Evans," he said politely before turning and offering a smile to the boy. "When will you be back at the common room? Harry wants to go over the charms notes with you, but that's only if James doesn't steal you away for chess first." He gave a carefree smile and slouched in the hard library chairs. Sirius knew that this was exactly what Remus needed: to know that things hadn't changed. His situation didn't mean there would be an end to the study sessions or the laughter-filled conversations or the abundance of games they played.

Sirius suddenly sat up and leaned over towards the other male. "Also, I was thinking of looking for another _you-know-what _this weekend if you're up to it." He gave Remus a meaningful look and the other boy caught on. He was talking about secret passageways in the castle. They both looked over towards Lily only to find her leaning away from them with her eyes skimming a textbook, respectfully minding her own business.

And suddenly, Remus smiled. It was shaky and unsure, but it was better than nothing. Sirius grinned in response and it took only a few minutes more to convince the light-haired boy to go with him up to the dormitory. They said their goodbyes to the girl who looked up from her book at their rise from the seats.

"We'll continue our conversation tomorrow, Remus, if that's alright?" She asked with one of the sweet smiles only females could pull off quite right and he nodded.

When the boys were back in Gryffindor tower, they found not only James and Harry but Peter there as well. Sirius' face twisted slightly in displeasure before it smoothed out.

"Hey guys, look who decided to join us?" They all looked up and smiled at Remus, though Peter did it with confusion.

"He always joins you guys," he said in his high voice. "How is this any different from usual?" The others were silent. This was _much_ more different from usual. There was suddenly some new level to the relationship they all shared. The Marauders were now being held together by an important secret. One that, if exposed, could change everything.

So they ignored the question with only Remus bothering to smile at the shortest of the boys. Sirius had already moved on to a new topic, mentioning something about a good prank to play on everyone from one year – which year yet, he didn't know – involving syrup and soap bottles and red food coloring. Harry decided it would be best if he sat this one out. Muggle food coloring was not something you messed with, he remembered, because it got _everywhere_ and stained _everything_.

But he let his brother and friend scheme while Remus laid on his back and looked up to the canopy over his bed and allowed his lips to turn upwards. Harry wondered briefly if this was how it went the first time. Did it take longer for Remus to listen to the boys and understand that they really didn't care? Probably, but then what had happened this time which made Remy more relaxed around the new revelation than he normally would have been?

Harry wasn't sure. He really didn't know, but he hoped that it continued to go on and Remus would become much more open about himself. Hopefully, with the pace this friendship was taking, he would be more involved by year two or three. According to older Sirius, it wasn't until they got the animagus forms down in year five that Remus let loose and realized that they would do anything for him.

Harry looked then to the other two boys. When would they suggest that? Would they come across the process in a textbook and realize it was perfect? Would they see McGonagall in her form again and remember?

Harry frowned slightly. Would he have to speed it along? He didn't want to; he liked the fact that his father and his friends were able to do so many great things that others wouldn't have expected from them. For example, helping a werewolf and mastering a difficult process without help and creating a map that defies cloaking spells. Harry didn't want to take credit for something that they would have eventually done.

"What's got you so down, Ry?" Sirius asked from his position lounging on his trunk. They both saw as Remus looked up to watch Harry worriedly.

"Just… thinking," he said faintly, his eyes flickering to Peter to show that he didn't want him to know.

Sirius understood. "Well stop thinking, or else your brain will malfunction because it's not used to it." James laughed and Harry laid down on his bed to grab a pillow before sitting up and throwing it in Sirius' direction. It missed and hit Peter instead, who blubbered before throwing it to Remus.

Remus didn't even pause before using it to hit Sirius on the back of the head. "Is that was you were trying to do, Harry?" He asked and the other boys relished in the smile on his face.

"And failing!" Sirius added and the laughter rang on.


	18. Chapter 18

Dearest Loves, I come with a new chapter. I again must thank you all for not yelling at me to update because it only expands my love for you. I apologize profusely for the two month delay for this chapter, but to make it up for you I have written over 4400 words for you to enjoy.

Also, FINALLY this is getting somewhere! I'm so super excited! Some of you might think of this as going too fast, but I quite like the pace. I believe in some of these parts, the people aren't quite in character, but it really could have been worse.

Thank you all again, and I'll do my best to update before two months have passed. Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 18

"Thanks," Harry acknowledged to the upper-year Hufflepuff who helped distribute his trunk upon the rack. The kid nodded and smiled at him easily before moving away to help others. Harry slid into the train compartment and sat down, quickly followed by three others.

They sat there in silence for a moment before James whooped and pumped his fist. "We're officially free for the next two weeks!" He yelled and cheers echoed his. It was spring break and they were getting more time off than usual due to how the days fell (Harry didn't feel like caring, so he ignored the prefect when she explained why). Sirius would be going straight home with the Potter family because his own kin had Wizengamot duties that wouldn't be done until Monday (three days from then). At that point, he would go back to his family, even though he would be back at the Potters' house on Saturday to spend the night.

Remus had to be home to see his parents and then for the moon, but would be with James and Harry on Saturday as well so they could have one big Marauder sleepover.

"Do you know if your mum'll end up sticking Reg with you on Saturday, Siri?" James asked his best friend and the other shrugged.

"I'm not sure, though I don't know why she would. She didn't react that bad when I told her the plans. I think she just wants me out of the house as much as possible during the school year." He grinned and shrugged to show that he wasn't affected. The others nodded and fell into easy conversation that was only interrupted by a knock on the door half of an hour later.

Lily stood with Mary and Peter by her side looking at them hopefully. "The Hufflepuff girls don't want any guys in our compartment. Could Peter sit with you?"

James answered before anyone else could even blink. "Of course, Peter is always welcome." He jabbed his heel into Sirius' foot under the pull-out table when he went to say a sassy remark under his breath. "Sit down. What are your plans for break?"

"I'm staying with my aunt and cousins. My mum and dad are still on their trip to Belgium and won't be home until a few days before break ends. I'll spend the last of it with them."

"What are they doing there?" Remus asked.

"I don't know for sure; they're doing something with old relics. They're runemasters, so I'm sure that's included somehow too. They didn't tell me much in the letter." And suddenly Harry was hit with a strong sense of guilt. It sounded here as if Peter's parents weren't often home when work came up, and the four of them weren't making it any better because they were leaving him alone in school. Well, to be fair, it was mostly Sirius and Harry himself who pushed him out of the foursome.

Harry was speaking before he even realized it. "We're all getting together on Saturday. Would you like to come?"

Sirius' fingers felt more like claws the way they latched into his arm and _squeezed_ but it wasn't like Harry was about to withdraw the invitation.

"Uh, t-thanks," Peter stuttered. "But no, thanks. We already have plans for the whole break. But thank you, again." He seemed startled by the fact he was being included. Harry didn't blame him.

The green-eyed boy shrugged in acceptance and skillfully ignored Sirius' burning gaze. By doing so he managed to avoid confrontation and the rest of the train ride went by smoothly, with the girls coming back to collect Peter thirty minutes before they reached the station. By then, Sirius had forgotten he was mad at Harry at all.

* * *

"Dorea!" Strange how after not seeing their parents for a few months, Harry and James weren't even the first ones to greet her, but instead Sirius got the first hug.

"Sirius," she acknowledged. "I trust you've been staying out of trouble?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied easily. "I only got thirteen detentions last month, that's two less than I got in February!"

She rolled her eyes and looked like she wanted to admonish him but knew it was pointless. She instead turned to James and Harry and asked them the same question after hugs.

"I haven't gotten as many as Sirius! I only got ten, and most of them were Ry's fault!" Harry startled and punched James' shoulder.

"You liar! They were _not_ my fault!"

"Shameful," James said with a piteous sigh and a shake of the head. "You won't even own up to your faults." Harry huffed and pointedly looked away from his twin.

Dorea turned to the last boy who had followed the others while keeping an eye out for his parents. "And what about you, Remus? Did my bothersome trio rope you into trouble?" Sirius would never admit it, but he positively flushed at being referred to as hers.

Remus smiled bashfully and shook his head. "No, ma'am; they don't get me into trouble."

Harry snorted. "Don't try to protect us, Rem. Mum already knows Siri and James corrupt everyone."

"And you!" James reminded him. Harry covered his mouth with a hand.

"Will you be joining us on Saturday then, Remus?"

"Uh, yes, if that's alright with you?" Dorea smiled widely.

"Of course that's fine!" Remus noticed his parents a few yards away and pointed them out to his friends.

"I have to go," he said and they exchanged their goodbyes.

"Are you boys ready to go?" The three agreed and were soon on their way to the apparating point.

* * *

Harry, James and Sirius sat in their respective spots in the living room. James was upside-down on a sofa with his feet reaching the top of it and his head nearly hitting the floor. He was twisting a closed snitch in his hands and would every once in a while make to let it go, causing the wings to spring out from it until it realized it was still being held. At that point, it would close back in on itself and James would twist it in his hands again.

Sirius was in a similar position to James in that his feet were thrown over the back of the couch but his body rested more sideways that James'. He had just finished telling a story and now Harry was sure he was dozing, though he had his eyes open, which was weird.

Harry himself was in an armchair, leaning against one of the corners while his legs were spread haphazardly over the armrest. He was reading less than half an hour before but lost interest quickly and threw the book in the general direction of the table in the middle of the room.

The three boys rested in silence until James' groan fill up the room.

"I'm so _bored_," he whined. "Why can't we do anything?"

"Mum said no leaving this room while they were at the ministry. You should know that – you heard her. She'll be back soon; she said she'd be around forty-five minutes – if that." Harry replied quickly. It wasn't the first time James had brought up the question.

"And how long has it been?"

"Less than forty-five minutes,"

James groaned louder than before. "You are absolutely no help. Sometimes you make me want to stab my own eyeball. Don't look at me like that! I'm serious-"

"No, that's me!" Sirius chipped in and the twins laughed and rolled their eyes in harmony.

"That joke was old the first time you said it three years ago," James informed him.

"But it made you laugh, didn't it?" Sirius asked and James ignored him. The silence reigned again until two distinct 'pop's sounded and there were two more persons in the room.

"Mum!" James shouted in relief. "Dad! You should totally ground Harry because he was mean while you were gone!" Harry spluttered but James ignored him. Dorea spoke up.

"Maybe I should ground _you_ for mistreating my furniture. Sit correctly on that couch, James Charlus!" James rushed to fix his posture and Sirius followed his example; James noticed.

"You should ground Sirius instead since he was sitting wrong too!" Sirius joined Harry in his choked denials but it was unneeded.

"I'll ground who I please. Now stop throwing your brothers under the Knight Bus and go play." Sirius preened. James sulked. Harry hip-bumped James smugly. James sulked some more.

* * *

The boys were together in James and Harry's combined bedrooms when Walburga showed up with Regulus in tow. They were called downstairs by their mother and greeted them in normal pureblood fashion.

"It's time to go, Sirius. Thank Lady Potter for her… _pleasant hospitality_." Sirius held back an eye roll at the way she spoke to him as if he were six or younger.

"Thank you very much, Lady Potter, for providing the ragged mattress and burnt toast while I was here." He was kidding, of course, and everyone in the room knew it. Still, Walburga scowled at the blatant disrespect shown to both herself and a Lady of a Noble house.

"That's enough. Floo home with Regulus." Sirius grinned and waved at James and Harry before moving to the fireplace and disappearing into green flame; Regulus followed shortly after. "He will be back on Saturday. If it is too much trouble, I can of course keep him home." _And take away his source of happiness._ It wasn't said, but was definitely meant.

"Of course it's no trouble!" Dorea played the part of the perfect pureblood host. "We would be delighted to have him here again. Will you be dropping him off or sending him through floo?"

"He can manage his own way here. Good day, Lady Potter."

"Of course, Lady Black. Get home safely!" And with a smile a little too sharp for real pleasure, Dorea bid Walburga goodbye.

James and Harry watched all of this with eye rolls exchanged at times when the Lady Black was discretely rude.

When at last is was only Potters in the room, Dorea turned to her sons, waiting a moment for dramatic flair, and then have a heavy sigh and wiped her brow in relief.

"At least she's finally gone! Can you believe we're related at all, even just distantly?"

* * *

The family of four spent the next few days together. They played wizarding games together and Charlus played a small, dysfunctional game of quidditch with the twins. And when they begged Dorea to join, she beat them all.

It was due to this that the days passed quickly and before they realized it, Saturday was there. James and Harry had separated their conjoined room back into their individual ones after Sirius left, but with the start of the weekend, they were put back together so all four boys could share space.

Which was what lead them to Saturday morning, waiting anxiously for the other half of the marauders to arrive. And they did, though it caused quite a mess.

It was roughly eleven-thirty when Remus came through the fireplace, stumbling and landing on his knees. He coughed out a breath of ash and made a face at the soot on his hands, which Dorea was quick to banish. He smiled shyly at her in thanks and stood to greet the twins. It was before he had even taken a step when Sirius came through the same fireplace. His regal stride was broken when he accidentally walked into Remus and they were both sent careening into the sofa, which was sent sliding because of their combined weight.

All four boys went into gales of laughter and Remus tried to apologize to Dorea – a feat proven impossible because of his breathless giggles.

"I assure you," Charlus spoke up from the doorway. "That isn't the largest mess Sirius has made in our house. He just took you along with him!" Sirius looked like he wanted to pout but knew it was too true to.

"Remus, dear," Dorea spoke up. "What would you like the house elves to prepare you for dinner? They're making everyone's favorites tonight." Sirius opened his mouth. "I already know what you want, Sirius Black! You act as though you've never been here." The pureblood heir shrugged his shoulders and smiled unashamedly.

Remus smiled and shook his head. "Oh, I don't care what I have. Just ask them to make me whatever's easiest."

"Now that just won't do," Charlus declared. "Do you like meat?"

Remus nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Just Charlus is fine, son. What kind of meat is your favorite?"

"Uh, chicken or maybe steak, sir. Charlus."

"Chicken is poultry!" James whisper shouted at him and it was unsurprising when everyone ignored his existence.

"We serve only the best here! Do you have a preference for the type of steak?"

"No, no, I don't care. Whichever is fine." Remus was flushed from the inquisition about something as simple as dinner. Dorea seemed to realize that as she pulled her husband's arm lightly to lead him away.

"Okay, good; we'll work something out for you. Do you have any allergies at all?" The kind lady asked, her blue eyes caring.

"Wild mushrooms, ma'am, but that's it." After a few more questions and Dorea insisting he call her by her name – "after all, Sirius does it already" – the boys finally left for the twins' bedroom.

Remus sighed heavily as he collapsed on the bed. "That felt strangely stressful and I'm not sure why. I've already met your parents a few times, so I don't know why it felt like going through the self-proving stage all over again." The others shrugged, but Sirius changed the subject before they could talk about it anymore.

"So, when do we want to do quidditch?"

Harry snorted in laughter when James perked up immediately. "I swear that's all that's ever on your mind, Siri!" The Black heir just waved his hand impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, insult me later. I want to see Remy fly as soon as possible. Would your mum be angry if we went out right now?" Both Harry and James knew Walburga didn't allow outside activities (read: didn't allow fun) before noon.

Harry bit his lip. "Of course not, as you well know, but we might get dirty and mum won't let us in the kitchen for lunch if we are."

It was decided that it would be better to just hang out until after lunch, which at that point they would get the brooms out for a two-on-two game.

"So how's Regulus?" James asked Sirius as they lounged on the beds. Sirius shrugged.

"Just like always. He's groomed to be the perfect Black heir, so I don't know why they haven't gotten rid of me yet." The boys were quiet.

"Well, you know how the Blacks are," James reminded him. "They're all about family and all that. I figure since everyone already knows about you they can't do away with you without claims of hypocrisy. I guess your mum is stuck with your pranks for a while, huh?" The boys laughed as Sirius perked up.

"That's right! I haven't told you guys yet: I played the best joke on her when I got home on Tuesday. You know that vase she likes so much? The green one, not the silver one." Harry and James both nodded. "Well, right now she has this expensive plant in it so I took one of the coloring tablets, mixed it with water, and poured the water in the vase. I was only experimenting to see if the plant would change colors! But the whole vase turned this awful violet-brown! It was incredible!" All the boys were laughing, especially at the fact that Sirius thought it was an honest mistake. Really, he must have realized something would go wrong, especially with a Zonko's product!

"Did she realize it was you?" Remus asked eagerly.

"I don't think she's even seen the vase since then. I'm hoping she won't until we're back at Hogwarts, because then she can't really do much to me." They laughed again, though there was a certain silent understanding between the twins (and to an extent, Remus) to do what they could to keep Walburga from doing _anything_ to Sirius.

Soon enough, they were called down to lunch, where they had heaping bowls of macaroni and cheese. They talked about nonsense until the dishes were empty and then James asked for all of them to be excused.

"Wait twenty minutes for your stomach to settle before going on your broom, James Charlus!" Dorea reminded him like any mother would. He rolled his eyes at the use of both his first and middle names.

"I know, I know," James responded. "And no going upside-down. I know." She waved him off.

They traveled together to the broom shed (which took ten minutes on its own) on the lawn in the back. Once there, James reached below the ramp and pulled out a rock that was hollow and held a large key.

"Why they have this when we're the only family in a fifteen-kilometer radius, I'll never know." He said humorously. "And why they have a lock when _alohomora_ is a first-year spell is also a question." But it worked out in their favor because they could open the shed and access the supply of good and poor quality brooms.

"Behold!" Harry announced, giggling between breaths. He held a shabby brown broom in his hands. "The Galaxy 2.0! It was _the_ broom of the 1750's."

"And you still have it?" Remus asked, surprised.

"Dad's a collector," was James' response.

"His only problem is he likes to hold them and admire them until they _literally_ fall apart in his fingertips." Harry continued. Sirius ignored the discussion, having heard it before, and instead rummaged for the best broom.

"Have you your Jupiter Plus?" He asked them and Harry pointed to an ebony broom hanging on the wall. "Yes! This one works great; I still don't know why they stopped making them twenty-something years ago. I know that was when the Comets started coming out, but they could have done an improvement on these and they would have remained a favorite!" The other boys sighed their agreement and they trailed off into silence.

James and Harry both chose the most recent brooms they had received while Remus took the good one from roughly eight years before. "Ready?" James asked and the others nodded.

They walked the brooms out to the quidditch field and James turned to face them all. "As the owner of this abode, I get to choose who picks partners." Harry snorted but didn't say anything. Sirius raised his chin proudly and prepared himself to be chosen. "I hereby give this honor to myself, the best quidditch player here." Mouths fell open and James smiled wickedly. "Sirius! Come on, I choose you for my partner. They're going down!"

Sirius sniffed. "No, you know what? I think this friendship is over. I have always like Remus better anyways. It'll be us against you Potters." Remus and Harry exchanged raised eyebrows. Remus moved closer to him.

"I don't suppose we have a say, do we?" Harry shook his head, his eyes alight with laughter.

"Absolutely not. James disregards the whole 'let the guest choose' unless, of course, he _is _the guest."

"Typical,"

"Did you really expect anything different?"

Meanwhile, James was wiping away a "tear".

"B-b-but Siri," he "cried". "I th-thought you l-loved me!" Sirius sighed dramatically and turned away.

"James," he whispered. "I know I should have told you but… I didn't know how to say it."

James gasped, his hand flying to his heart. "What is it? Are you… are you cheating on me? But Siri, I thought we were forever!" Sirius turned around completely.

"This is hard for me too. I never wanted to do this but… he just… Remus stole my heart at first glance." Remus startled slightly, not expecting to become involved.

James let out a wail and turned to the tawny-haired boy, who could see the mischievous shine in his hazel eyes. "It's all your fault! If it weren't for you I would still have my love!" And with that, he jumped onto his broom and flew a few meters away. They all laughed and James turned back to them.

"Okay, in all seriousness," he started.

"What about me?" Sirius asked. He was ignored.

"I call Harry. We've been playing together since we could first ride. You guys don't stand a chance."

And they didn't. James and Harry knew each other on the broom extremely well. The rules of the game were that one person on each team would play chaser and the other would be keeper. Meanwhile, everyone would keep an eye out for the snitch. James was a wonderful chaser and Harry's keeper skills were passable, but it was Harry who caught the snitch in the end.

Sirius played chaser on his team but halfway through gained a new objective and tried to push everyone off of their brooms. Remus, as great as he ended up being at quidditch, had no chance against James and instead made gestures towards Harry, trying to distract him.

After a few hours, when the sun began to dip below the horizon and the blue sky waned, they packed up their gear and walked inside only to find ten minutes left before dinner.

"Go wash up, quickly, all of you!" Dorea hurried them and they rushed to do so.

Dinner that night was pleasant (though Remus' filet mignon was closer to the rare side, which worried him that Mr. and Mrs. Potter knew about his… condition) and soon enough they were upstairs, getting ready for a (hopefully sleepless) night.

"Goodnight Mum, goodnight Dad!" Harry shouted through the door when they passed the room. They waited a minute more until they were far enough away and then turned to each other. Remus brought out muggle glow sticks that he had gotten from a cousin and passed them around. He showed the purebloods how to snap them and connect the necklaces and bracelets so that they could be worn. They layered themselves until the four boys were decked out in blue, green, red, and all other colors.

They gave breathy giggles and settled down so that they were all staring at the ceiling.

"When are you going to go to bed?" Sirius asked the others.

"I'm not," James replied easily. "I'm pulling an all-nighter."

Harry shook his head, his shoulders shaking with repressed chuckles. "Remember last time you said that? You tried to eat as much sugar as you could so you would stay caffeinated but crashed at two-thirty." James blushed.

"Shut up," he mumbled. He coughed and tried to change the subject. "So Ry, since you volunteered: truth or dare?"

"I did no such thing!"

"Of course you did, now answer the question."

"When did we even decide to play this game?" James didn't seem to have plans not to though, so Harry resigned himself to his fate and spoke.

"Dare," he said. James laughed giddily and Harry felt like trembling in fear.

"I dare you to put toothpaste on your finger and eat it!" Harry made a face. It certainly wasn't a bad dare, but it was sure to taste gross.

He sighed and stood, walking to their attached bathroom and uncapping the toothpaste. Everyone watched – Sirius and James eagerly and Remus with reluctant interest – as he put some in his mouth and tried to swallow. He coughed and gagged and made funny faces, but eventually ate it and washed it down with roughly a liter of water.

"That was disgusting." He reported as he sat back in his spot. "Your turn Siri – truth or dare?"

They played for close to an hour until they got tired of standing and sitting repeatedly and instead decided to talk. It was almost one o'clock in the morning by then, and the four boys could feel the moon's effects.

After a few meaningless topics, Remus decided to begin one.

"Do your parents know… what I am?" He asked his voice hesitant.

"No," Harry replied immediately. "I don't see how they could. I for one haven't told them. James?" The bespectacled replied in the negative. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that my steak was almost rare today and it worried me."

"The house elves likely know," Sirius chipped in. "They have this weird creature-radar thing, apparently. Maybe, I don't know. My mum told me that but she could have been lying to me."

Remus nodded. "It's just that… would they hate me for it? Probably; I don't know why I'm even asking-"

"Remus, shush." James interrupted. "They would still like you just fine. That doesn't change much to them."

They trailed off into silence until James cleared his throat. "Listen, I was thinking. Is it- is it awfully lonely on the full moons?"

The atmosphere grew awkward. "I don't really… I'm not myself on those nights. So I'm not sure." Remus bit his lip. "The wolf – Moony, I call it – he kind of takes over and I'm the passenger. It's strange."

"Right, well. It's just. What if we could, you know, help you somehow?" Remus froze.

"You can't be with me on the moons." He shut him down quickly. "I lose my mind. I go _crazy_. I'd accidentally kill all of you."

"But that's because your wolf – Moony – he would find us a threat, right? But what if he didn't?" James was sitting by then and looked excited. Sirius was intrigued and Harry was trying to keep back his eager comments. This was it!

"That's not possible. Wolves find any human on full moons as a threat. You sound like you've read up on it so you must kno-"

"But what if we weren't human?"

Everything was silent.

James rushed on. "Remember how McGonagall turned into a cat at the beginning of the year? I can't remember how she did it but if we learn how to do it then maybe we could be with you on the moons! Come on, Remus, wouldn't it be great if Moony had someone to play with?"

"It's called an animagus." Sirius filled in the blanks and Harry felt like jumping for joy. "It's supposed to take years to accomplish, and that's for fully-trained adults."

"But it's a form of transfiguration," Harry finally partook in the conversation. "And who's the best transfiguration-ist in our year?" He looked pointedly at his brother.

Remus spoke, his voice shaking. He seemed to be holding back his hope. "I would kill a little kitten during the moon. Even if it were a 'friend', Moony likes to play. I- he- we would accidentally break it in half."

"Well then let's hope we're not little house kittens, yes?"

The four friends grinned. They didn't get to sleep that night.


	19. Chapter 19

Hey everyone! It hasn't even been two weeks and I have another one ready for you! Before you worry, the animagus transformations will be mentioned more next chapter. The middle of this ended up more angsty than I desired, so I made the rest of it happy to make up for it. The horcrux problem will be left alone for a while but it has not been forgotten! Don't worry!

I hope you enjoy this!

CHAPTER 19

It was mid-April when they got back to Hogwarts and they decided to restart school with a bang by pulling off the prank with the muggle food coloring that they had discussed but never acted upon three weeks before. James and Sirius set up buckets full of red-dyed water over corridor doors and used some trip wires taken from the Potter house over the break and placed them directly under the waiting buckets.

They did all of that during their free period and stood back in a dark corner as they watched the chaos unravel. Students of all houses and all years were being covered in red water and those who weren't ended up stepping in a puddle somewhere and trailing red footprints wherever they went.

It was rather funny, Harry had to admit, but was proven as stupid when James was caught with red dye on his hands. The fool was literally caught red-handed. And the idiot then refused to be brought down alone and so dragged Sirius with him.

Professor McGonagall's glare had children flinching all around.

But that was a week before and the two boys had been let off easy. Harry was sure it must have been Dumbledore who convinced McGonagall to only give them one night of detention. No doubt the headmaster took great enjoyment from the pranks, and this one was fairly harmless, only causing one second-year Ravenclaw to slip and go to the infirmary with a heavily bruised elbow – and ego. Unfortunately, the latter of which could not be healed with a bruise salve.

Harry had to sit the two best friends down after that and stress to them that it wouldn't be the best idea to do more than one or two pranks for the rest of the year.

"But, Ry! Why?" Harry rolled his eyes at Sirius' childish behavior and motioned for Remus to back him up.

"He's right, guys. End-of-year exams are only a month away. Don't you want to do well?" When they didn't look to care, Harry pulled out a card he knew would do it.

"Don't you want to show Snape how much better you are?" He, personally, didn't really have anything against the older Snape who saved his life time and time again. The younger one, however, was annoying so Harry didn't feel bad about using him as a means to get his brother and friend to study for once.

"Also, more pranks will only stress the teachers out." But the other two weren't listening any longer. They were instead gesturing to each other and trying to purvey how awful it would be if Snivellus did better than them.

"Ah, it's pointless Rem." The tawny-haired and green-eyed boy left the room for the library. "They'll study once they realize I've stolen all of their candy." Remus looked over at Harry in surprise.

"You what?"

"It was almost embarrassing how easy it was. I share blood with James so his trunk's blood-locks were pointless and Sirius' trunk is password protected. Three guesses as to what the password is."

"Slytherin sucks?" Remus said dryly and Harry snorted.

"However did you guess?"

They walked the rest of the way to the library in silence, and neither boy felt any pressure to break it. Once they got to the large room they sat at the table they've used since Remus sat there the first week of Hogwarts. It wasn't more than ten minutes later that Lily joined their small group with Peter in tow.

"Can we study with you?"

Remus hardly looked up before motioning towards the two empty seats across from them. "By all means," he replied and they sat.

"Where's your other half?" Lily asked Harry.

"With his other half" he responded and they all knew he meant Sirius.

"Ahh," she said knowledgably. "Are they planning any trouble I should know about?"

Harry smiled faintly and shared a look with Remus before shaking his head. "Not at the moment, no."

It took less than twenty minutes for the mentioned troublemakers to join their study group by dragging two additional chairs to the heads of the table. When it looked like Sirius was going to say something rude to Peter, Remus spoke first.

"So Peter, you never told us what your parents learned when they were on their trip."

"Uh, nothing very interesting. There was a lot about runes; apparently they found a new one in a tomb in Egypt. They're saying it's powerful so it's my parents' job to figure out ways to use them in rituals."

Sirius looked interested and not at all condescending. "What kinds of rituals?" He asked and Peter looked surprised at the attention from someone who everyone knew didn't like him very much.

"Well, the rune increases power three-fold, so any power ritual or maybe it could be used for magical items and objects. I'm not really sure about that last part, since it's not really what my mum and dad study."

Sirius asked more questions but Peter wasn't able to answer them since he hadn't paid much attention to his parents when they were talking about it. After a few more minutes, Lily got tired of this and with Remus' help she managed to get them to focus on studying.

"Lily, may I talk to you?" The six-person Gryffindor group looked up as one when they heard a familiar Slytherin voice.

"Yes, what is it Sev?" The redhead asked pleasantly.

"_Alone_," the former stressed. She frowned.

"Go away Snivellus, she doesn't want to spend time with you." All heads turned to James and Harry had to keep from slapping his forehead – or maybe James'.

"Oh, shush you, James Potter! Of course Severus, we can walk and talk." And then they left, leaving James slightly angered and aghast at the disregard he was shown and Peter fidgeting awkwardly.

Harry blew out a breath that caused his bangs to fly up and watched as James and Sirius shared a look.

"She doesn't realize how better off she could be if she just ditched the snake," the Black heir said pityingly. Harry carefully left his annoyance out of his expression. This was how it was supposed to happen, right? Lily would hate the marauders (with the exception of Remus) until seventh year when James matured and Snape… did the opposite.

But… that's not how it was going. Sure she didn't hate Remus again, but she also didn't hate Peter. In fact, he wasn't a marauder at all. And then there was Harry himself, she didn't hate him. At least, he didn't _think_ she did.

So there were half of the marauders, and Harry was pretty sure Lily held only mild dislike for the other two. Was that going to ruin anything? Not to mention that James wasn't yet infatuated with Lily, not even because she was resisting him. Because she wasn't resisting him. Because he wasn't infatuated with her! Why was all of this wrong? From all the stories he heard from older Sirius, James had liked Lily from the start. At least, that's what Harry thought he said. He couldn't quite remember the conversations they would have.

But now here they were, nearly one whole year into Hogwarts education, and James wasn't showing attraction to Lily Evans! Something Harry privately thought was a good thing, considering both were only twelve and much too young to be feeling any sort of desirability.

But that's not the point! The point was that the future was changing and Harry wasn't sure if he liked it or not! This is what he was sent to do, to change things, but what if he made things worse? What if he couldn't stop Voldemort and the prophecy was still made? What if James and Lily didn't get together and have baby Harry and no one could beat Moldy? What then?

Harry was pulled momentarily from his inner perceptions by Sirius packing up to get ready for dinner and the others copied him, Harry with a deep frown on his face. He would have to get started on the horcruxes soon. He had become too comfortable in the past and forgot that he wasn't completely off the hook yet. As much as he wanted to enjoy his time, he also needed to stop the unnecessary deaths.

As wrapped up in his thoughts as he was, Harry didn't notice the other three marauders watching him with concern.

* * *

One thing that Harry had managed to forget: there was no way he would be able to destroy the horcruxes.

Well, of course there was, but he couldn't do it alone. No, that wasn't true either. He probably could do it alone. The problem, however, was _getting_ to the horcruxes – something he couldn't do legally or magically at the age of twelve.

The first problem was transportation. How was he supposed to get into Gringotts, the Horcrux Cave, and the Gaunt Shack alone and without anyone noticing? And that wasn't even mentioning the diary, which should be in Malfoy Manor of all places!

Harry knew that he wasn't a horcrux this time, which was quite the relief. Just like he knew that Nagini wasn't one yet. Still, the only one he could possibly get to was Ravenclaw's Diadem, which brings up the next problem: how was he to destroy it? With his lack of control at the younger age he wouldn't be able to control fiendfyre, and there was no dead basilisk to take venom from.

Speaking of the big snake, he did not want to kill it. It nearly killed him the first time! But could he really keep a monster in the school at all times?

But was it really a monster? It was Voldemort's fault the poor thing had gone crazy the first time. If there's no diary, perhaps the snake won't do anything. If it hasn't in roughly a few decades, why would it now?

Harry shook his head. He had spent too much time worrying about this. He could ponder the situation over summer break after the exams were over. Not that they would be difficult at all, considering he was finishing reading third-year textbooks.

Harry groaned and looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I'm thinking too hard," he whispered to himself. "Relax, Harry. Everything's fine. Everyone's fine. You're twelve – what can you do at twelve? Why are you working yourself so hard?" The first deaths don't happen until Charlus and Dorea die in their seventh year – something that Harry strictly would not allow happen this time.

Which, speaking (thinking) of… there was a cure for dragonpox, right? But what if somehow he couldn't prevent that?

Harry let out a frustrated yell before slapping his hand over his mouth. He composed himself quickly before leaving the bathroom. Thankfully, there was no one around and Harry made his way to the common room where he knew the others would be.

* * *

Harry was sitting with James and together they were writing a letter to their parents when Sirius and Remus barged in, both grinning happily. Harry's cat, Peridot, was weaving her body between the green-eyed boy's legs insistently. She had grown quite a bit since being bought the summer before and now stood to halfway up his calf.

"We found another passageway!" They announced and the twins gave matching smiles.

"Show us where!" James shouted and left the small table and half-written letter. Harry rolled the parchment up and slipped it into his bag before following the others out of the room, Peri clinging to his pants desperately until he finally picked her up and settled her on his shoulders.

It was now the beginning of May and Harry decided to forget about the horcruxes until the next year. After all, he deserved at least one pleasant summer with the marauders, no?

"So where are we?" Harry asked when they stopped in front of a tapestry. However, he recognized the area as the same spot that had a passage the first time, so this was definitely one that they had found before.

"The East End," Sirius said back and Harry had absolutely no idea what that meant, but nodded anyways. The twins watched closely as Sirius made a show of not being able to pull the tapestry aside – it in fact acted as if it were made of stone. "Now watch" he continued before looking behind and pushing a rock in.

James looked excited when he saw the tapestry become movable and Sirius pulled it over to reveal a staircase. "Have you gone up yet?" Harry asked and Remus shook his head.

"As soon as we found it, Sirius went running back to find you guys." James smiled happily at Sirius and motioned the boy with mercury eyes should go first.

The small group was hardly a minute into the climb when they heard footsteps. They exchanged panicked expressions and James's hands shook as he reached inside his pocket. With fumbling fingers, he pulled out the invisibility cloak and threw it over himself, Sirius, and Harry. At the last moment he stretched his arm out from seemingly nowhere and snagged Remus' jumper, pulling him in as well.

The four boys held their breaths as a figure appeared from over them and walked down the stairs, grumbling lowly.

"Stupid children… hate them… always causing a mess… should all be expelled…" Harry recognized Attica, the Hogwarts caretaker before Filch. She is just as bad as he was, but they differed in the aspect that when she finally became miserable enough, she quit.

She walked the stairs slowly and gripped the railing tightly at one point to stretch her legs out enough to skip a step. Harry watched curiously and Remus had to move a hand over Sirius' mouth before he whispered a "_what the hell_" like he clearly wanted to.

"Maybe the step is rickety and won't hold her weight?" James offered as soon as she was gone. He pulled the cloak off of their heads. The boys laughed at each other when they noticed the way their hair was standing on their heads from static.

But Remus shook his head. "She's tiny, and why wouldn't it be fixed?" So finally Sirius decided to just walk over and step on the stair (idiot, sorry, Gryffindor that he was). And then it just disappeared! Harry was quick in reaching out and pulling Sirius up from where he had been falling forward and James hit his head in realization.

"Trick step," he said. "Duh,"

The four continued on the staircase until it finally let out four stories up on the sixth floor right near the charms classroom.

"That's helpful," Remus remarked.

"Hopefully we won't be late again," Sirius added, talking mainly to James. Remus and Harry shook their heads with fond smiles on their lips.

"You'd best not," Harry warned James. "Or else mum'll get mad and she'll be sending another howler." It had only happened once this year, but James was scarred by the experience. Walburga, however, has sent three to Sirius and the pureblood had merely laughed at all of them.

Harry looked down at his dusk-covered robes and crinkled his nose. "We should probably get cleaned up."

"Maybe we could stop at the kitchen?" Remus asked hopefully. "I'm really hungry, and dinner isn't for a while."

"Of course," James answered and Harry felt immense happiness at how well the group worked together. "And in return you can convince Harry to give me back some of my licorice wands."

Harry snorted. "It's not happening, James." The older boy sneered playfully.

"Maybe I should add in mum's letter that you've stolen my candy?"

"Oh, please, she'd only approve and you know it." James laughed in defeat.

"Yeah, that's true." Harry exchanged grins with his brother.

* * *

A/N okay big question! Should the others find out about the whole time-travel thing? Have a nice day! -Nel


	20. Chapter 20

Oh goodness. Oh goodness, this has taken so long and I'm so sorry. It would be better if I thought you would enjoy this chapter, but it's very filler. I'm going to try to speed this along, alright? I know some of you are waiting for the romance, and so am I.

This would have been out sooner, but I have other stories I'm writing on the side that I won't post until their mostly finished and I simply had the largest burst of inspiration for one of them and completely doubled the size of it. Yikes, I guess that will be one of my longer ones as well. The others are simply long oneshots.

But anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and maybe someone will notice what my plans are for the future of this book - I hinted at it.

* * *

Chapter 20

It was with relief that the four marauders (and the rest of the school) took and finished their end-of-year tests. The tests were finals specifically designed for a Hogwarts education and they received their scores on the very last day of school. Unfortunately, the scores were written on parchment and tied with a string that kept them from being opened unless by someone who had reached their majority.

So the four boys sat on the blaringly red train on their way to King's Cross Station at the end of their first magical year with upset expressions. James and Sirius wanted to know who did better out of the two of them while Remus just wanted to know if he passed everything.

"Relax, Rem," Harry said soothingly, moving his hand from his lap to rub between the werewolf's shoulder blades. "There's no doubt in my mind you passed all of your tests. I think you might have even gotten a perfect score on a few. You were studying like crazy, it must have showed."

Remus shrugged and Sirius took that moment to break from his conversation with James to speak. "Yeah, Moony," the boys had taken to calling Remus by his werewolf name. At first, Harry thought Remus didn't like it much, but he warmed up to it quickly. "You probably got the best scores in the class."

"You probably did even better than the Ravenclaws!" James chimed in.

Sirius spoke again when the mood was getting too sweet for him. "Nerd that you are," he said. His tone was teasing, eradicating any thoughts that he could actually mean the words from his lips.

Remus smiled at them in thanks and toyed with the red string on the parchment. It was around then that the compartment door was opened by who they recognized was a Gryffindor seventh-year. His eyes looked sad, probably because he had just left Hogwarts for good, but his voice was joyful as he started to speak.

"I'll open your scores for you for a sickle." He offered. Sirius agreed immediately but the twins held back. They knew Dorea wouldn't be happy with them opening the scrolls before they got home. So they denied the offer and Remus did as well. Harry wondered if it was because his parents would act the same as Dorea, or if it was more of a monetary problem.

Sirius held his now unravelling scroll in front of his body and slowly began to open it, making sure to take extra time to add suspense.

"Are you expecting a drum roll?" Remus asked teasingly and Harry bit his lip to hide his smile.

"Or maybe some trumpets," Harry added wittily. "And also a man announcing the scores for King Sirius' servants to hear."

"'Oh tell us,' they would cry." James added into the conversation. His voice was comically high, imitating that of a love-sick woman. "'Oh, King Sirius, please, enlighten us with the results of your tests! Show us how amazing you are…'"

Harry wasn't sure what he expected: maybe bashfulness for once. But Sirius just laughed and stood from his seat. Looking back, of course that's what Sirius would do.

"If you insist," he announced, throwing his head back to stick up his nose in a decidedly pureblood fashion. "Let's see… order from best to worse blah, blah, blah… Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful, Troll, blah, blah, blah… Ah! Here it is!"

The other three leaned forward in curiosity. As much as they made fun of Sirius, they really were interested to know.

"_Astronomy: O_" he flipped his hair flamboyantly. "Of course. _Charms: A_. Good, good, that's still passing. _Defense against the Dark Arts: O_. Hah, take that, Mother. _Herbology: A_. Whoops. Who really needs a written test for a bunch of plants anyways? _History of Magic: P_. What the bloody hell did they expect from me? _Potions: O_. I'm almost disappointed about that. _Transfiguration: E_." He made a face at his paper. "Damn it Potter, you probably beat me at that."

"Which Potter?" Remus asked.

"Both," Sirius replied miserably. Harry really thought Sirius was upset at his scores and was ready to provide comfort, but then the Black heir sat straighter and gave a wide grin. "So overall, pretty perfect," he declared and Harry rolled his eyes.

* * *

The four friends parted ways a while after they got to the station. Both Sirius and Remus followed the twins to say hello to Dorea, who was there on her own to take them home. Sirius tried hiding behind Remus to avoid his mother but eventually left when her face turned red from anger. Remus stood with them at first to aid Sirius but then remained with them when his parents weren't anywhere in sight.

"You can go if you'd like," Remus reassured Dorea, who didn't want to go while Remus was still waiting for his parents. "They'll be here soon enough. My mum probably got caught up in work and my dad should be asleep." When Dorea looked disapproving, he hastened to explain. "He works nights, and so sleeps in the day. Everything's fine and my mum should be here soon." Harry wondered if he realized he was repeating himself. Was that to comfort Dorea or himself, he pondered.

"Remus?" A woman's voice called out and he looked over. The lady standing there had hair more grey than brown but her face was relatively wrinkle-free. "Come on, dear. Sorry I took so long, I had completely forgotten the time."

Remus shook his head and smiled. "It's fine, mum. I'll write you?" He said the last part to James and Harry and then proceeded to leave with his mother. Dorea stared after them and then turned to her sons.

"He's a little sweetheart," she declared. "I like him. Are we ready to go?"

* * *

The first few weeks of summer passed quickly with the excitement of no school and therefore no responsibilities. James and Harry spent most of it side-by-side, though occasionally Harry would isolate himself in his room for a day to get some time alone. It was usually on those days that Harry would pen long letters to Sirius and Remus and send them off with Nuntius. He writes to them regularly anyways, but they often are pointless little letters consisting of what variation of quidditch he and his brother had played that day.

It was approaching mid-June when James went up to Harry and declared:

"We need to get Lily Evans away from Snivellus next year."

Harry, who was sitting at his desk staring stubbornly at his as-of-yet unopened homework, turned slowly towards his brother.

"We need to _what_?" He asked for clarification.

"Keep Evans away from the slimy Slytherin. She's a lion, and one requirement of lion-ism is to be friends with the other lions. So that's what we have to do."

Harry stared at him blankly. "She's friends with Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon."

"Yeah, but they're girls so they don't count."

"And you know she and Remus are quite close," Harry continued pointedly.

"Remus is nice to everybody, of course they're close."

"Peter is her friend as well." James glared at him a little.

"No, she needs better friends, Ry! Friends like us!" Harry sighed and turned in his chair so he was facing James fully.

"What is your point in all of this?" He asked tiredly. "You wouldn't decide to put up with girls for no reason."

James puffed up his chest. "I've decided I like her." He said and Harry almost jumped in shock. "And it wouldn't be right to let the Slytherins taint her."

Harry frowned. "She's not an object, James." He protested, but feared the elder twin wasn't listening. "The Slytherins won't tarnish her like an old copper pot."

James looked down to Harry pityingly. "The snakes are evil, Harry."

"Maybe they're not!" Harry cried out, jumping from his seat. "I highly doubt an entire fourth of this school is evil! Besides, can you really say that all Gryffindors are perfect?"

"Of course they're all perfect, Harry!" James shouted back. "Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten in!"

Harry yelled in vexation. "_That doesn't even make sense-!_"

"Boys?" The twins – so alike and yet obviously so different – looked up to see their father in the doorway. "Is there a problem?"

"No," James answered immediately and glared a little at Harry as if to stop him from saying otherwise. "Everything's fine."

Harry breathed heavily through his nose and nodded once sharply. "Everything's fine," he repeated his brother and Charlus frowned but moved away from the door. Both boys were silent until the footsteps receded, pausing twice along the way, before speaking again.

"And just when did you decide you liked her?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low to minimize the possibility of their father hearing them.

James shrugged as if he didn't care about the topic anymore, but Harry could see the tenseness in his shoulders. The two were twins, the best of friends, and had grown up side by side. It was ridiculous to even consider that they didn't know each other perfectly from front to back.

"At the end of the year," James said finally when no words came from Harry's mouth. "Just before the final exams." Harry looked at James a bit longer before finally sighing and shaking his head.

"I think you'll find," Harry stated as he began to walk away, "That attempting to separate Lily from Snape – her _best friend_ – will do more harm to your case than good."

* * *

_Remus,_

_Have you heard from James lately? He seems to have decided that Lily Evans is to be his. I've tried talking to him but with how much he is raving about her being around "that slimy Slytherin" I've taken to hiding out in my room. I didn't want to write this to Sirius because Merlin could only guess his reaction. Honestly, it's more likely he'll be proud of James than disproving like I hope._

_His liking Lily would be fine if it weren't more of a trophy for him. I would be willing to put a solid galleon on him only wanting her to show her off to Snape._

_I don't know. Whatever._

_Sirius will be here Friday for the weekend. My mum suggested I extend the offer to you, though I know Wednesday will be tough for you. If you want to come, you'll be fully welcomed and you could just show up and we wouldn't mind. But if you're not in the mood then we'll all get together later this month or maybe in July._

_Would the great Moony have any suggestions for the James/Lily problem or do I just let it rest? Stay well, Remy._

_Harry_

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_That's quite the problem you have. I understand your view of all of this, but have you actually considered that maybe James really does like Lily for herself? Even I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch, but I believe James wouldn't be interested in someone only for some twisted revenge. He's pureblood and I know that's how some marriages form (sorry if that's at all insulting. I didn't mean it that way) but your parents married for love more than anything, and I'm sure James is somewhat inspired by that._

_Maybe I'm just thinking too much. You're his brother after all, so if anyone should know him it should be you so I shouldn't be writing as if I know more because I don't._

_Anyways, sorry but I won't be over on Friday. I have prior engagements that don't have to do with Moony, but I greatly appreciate the offer. Hopefully I can come in July._

_I'll write you again after the moon._

_With care,_

_Remus Lupin_

* * *

As the first of July came around, the Potter household was still tense.

James and Harry tried to keep the argument away from their parents but after too many silent dinners, the problem was approached. When Dorea asked what the problem was, however, Harry lied and said it was about him not trying out for the quidditch team next year. He didn't know why he lied, but couldn't go back afterwards and so let it be.

Unfortunately, that admittance made James only angrier at him. For years James had been dreaming of both Potter twins and Sirius all being on the team at the same time. For Harry to tell him that wasn't going to happen, it only made the situation that much worse.

Sirius managed to relieve some of the tension until he found out the situation and sided with James because of his hatred for Snape. That weekend with the three of them was not so great.

By July, Harry was ready to simply forget about the conflict and let James do what he wants just so he could get his brother and friend back. Also, he didn't want to be fighting when Remus came, for surely he would be disappointed in both of them.

So on the first of July, Harry went to where James was in one of the living rooms and sat next to him on the couch. They weren't ones for vocal apologies, but when James offered his textbook for the potions homework, Harry was sure he was forgiven. It didn't mean James was sorry about what happened, but Harry doubted there would be any apology forthcoming from him.

So due to this, when the other half of the Marauders came two days later, the twins were (more or less) back to normal. Harry didn't get to talk to Remus about it until the James and Sirius left the recombined bedroom for food.

As soon as they left, Remus turned towards Harry and rested his hands on his lap, patiently waiting. Taking the silent offer, Harry began to speak quickly.

"He doesn't even realize what he's doing is wrong! I want him to rethink what he's doing, but we didn't speak for weeks and I only just apologized to him on Tuesday. I really don't want to be put in his bad books again so soon after coming out. Also, we haven't played quidditch since we fought."

"Why not?" Remus asked, turning to look towards the door to make sure the boys weren't back yet.

"I told him I didn't want to try out for the quidditch team," Harry replied and Remus looked at him with surprise.

"Why not?" He asked again.

"Because… I can't really remember why, but I had really good reasons. I don't know, I just don't think it'd be a good idea to do quidditch; someone else will probably get the seeker spot anyways – someone older and better."

It was then that a body came rolling through the door. "You're not doing quidditch?!" Sirius shouted, sounding alarmed. James stood behind him with boxes upon boxes of crackers in his hands.

Harry sighed and avoided Sirius' eye. "No, Siri, I'm not doing quidditch."

"Why in the world won't you be doing it?"

"I just explained to Remus-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know already; I was listening in. But you're the best seeker I know! And we talked about this already! McGuire graduated this year and there isn't a good seeker in all the rest of Gryffindor. If you don't try out and we lose the house cup it will be your fault!"

Harry rolled his eyes slightly. They didn't lose the cup the first time, and he definitely wasn't there to help them. But, "Maybe," he told Sirius and apparently that satisfied the Black heir.

* * *

James set up the five bowls, all turned over so they could see the bottoms, in a straight line on the floor. The other three boys were on the opposite side of the table with hands over their eyes.

"Okay, you can look now," The elder twin said excitedly and the others removed their hands.

"So what do we do?" Harry asked for clarification and instead of James answering, Sirius went ahead and showed him.

"Just choose a bowl and hope for the best!" He announced and reached for the fourth bowl and hurriedly picked it up. Under it stood a single white roll. Sirius smiled broadly and showed the others. "And whether it's good or not, you _have_ to eat it!" And he then promptly shoved it completely in his mouth.

Harry crinkled his nose at the bread-filled smile he gave. He turned to Remus who had an almost identical look on his face. Remus motioned with his hand, allowing Harry to go first; but Harry denied the offer with a wave of his own hand and Remus sighed in resignation.

He examined the bowls carefully and it was after great consideration that he chose the third one. Only Harry saw him sniff discretely as he was deciding. _That sneaky bugger,_ he thought to himself with some amount of pride. They all watched as it was lifted to reveal goat cheese underneath and Remus' blinding smile showed that it definitely wasn't something he was upset about.

Then it was Harry's turn so he took the first bowl and lifted the bowl quickly, and then put it back down and reached for the second bowl instead.

"Ah, ah, ah!" James cried out, reaching out to pull Harry's hands physically away from the second bowl. "You chose the first bowl. Go ahead!"

"But you know I hate jelly," Harry whined and it was true that was what was underneath. It was grape jelly, which Harry very much didn't like.

"You know the rules!" James sang and Harry scowled but shoved the spoonful quickly into his mouth and just as quickly swallowed it. He hoped it would allow him to not taste it, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"Your turn again, Siri!" James said but the other boy protested loudly.

"You didn't go yet!"

"That's because I know what's under the bowls," James replied and the '_duh_' was unneeded. So Sirius pointed to the last bowl.

"Then I choose that one for you."

It was with a smug grin that James lifted the bowl to reveal a licorice wand.


	21. Chapter 21

Hello everyone! I am so incredibly sorry this is later than I had hoped. In all truthfulness, it's been done for 2-3 weeks now, but I had full intentions to make it really long and post it on August 11 since that will be the one-year anniversary of this fic! However, as I failed to add on and the time from the last update stretched further, I found that I was anxious and needed to post it. I will try my very hardest to write enough for another chapter so I can post it on the 11th!

I hope you enjoy this, and remember that it's an AU so things aren't the same as in canon!

* * *

CHAPTER 21

"Have you done your homework yet?" Remus asked the boys and James steadfastly avoided his eye.

"Most of it," Harry answered. "Have you?"

"Of course he has," Sirius interjected. "It was probably done in the first week."

"Don't be rude, Siri." Harry admonished.

"He's right that it's done," Remus spoke, hoping to stall an oncoming argument. "Though I only just finished a few days ago."

It was silent for a few minutes as the boys were off in their own thoughts until Harry jumped suddenly. "Remus! What did you get on your final exams? I know James already talked about his with Sirius." It was unspoken but known that Sirius didn't know Harry's because of the whole incident during the first month of summer.

"Oh," Remus said in surprise. "That's right."

"Did you pass everything?" Harry asked, even though he could already guess that he had.

"Yes," Remus replied. He hung his head bashfully, as if embarrassed that he had been so worried in the first place.

"And?" Harry prompted further. "Any perfect scores on the exams?"

Remus nodded. "Charms and Defense," he said quietly and the boys cheered.

"Way to go!" Harry commended and Remus only ducked his head further.

"And what about you?" He asked finally in reply to Harry when he succeeded in lifting his head.

"I passed them all," Harry said vaguely with a small shrug.

"And?" Remus asked for elaboration. Harry wondered if he realized he was echoing him.

"And I got a perfect score for defense. I was perfect for the practical for transfiguration and charms, but missed some written questions on both." Truthfully, he had only missed a question for each, but he saw no need to boast.

"Good job," Remus congratulated honestly and Harry smiled back at him.

"James did well for transfiguration, didn't you, James?" Harry moved on from himself and the older twin nodded proudly.

"Best score in the year," he announced and the others cheered. "It said so on the parchment." While they were congratulating him, Harry looked towards the clock. Sirius and Remus had to go in half of an hour so now the group was just wasting the time away.

"I'm bored," Sirius announced and Harry reached into his bag he always carried around. When he removed his hand, there were several different sorts of sweets in his palm.

"What do you want?" Harry asked and Sirius reached over to take something. Right before he could, though, Harry pulled his hand back. "Whoop! Nuh-uh, James goes first because he got the only perfect transfiguration score." James held his chin proudly in the air as he chose a lollipop that changed flavors while it was being consumed. Sirius went to go again but Harry, once again, pulled his hand away. "Wait! Remus goes second because he studied non-stop and really, he deserves everything in my hand because of it."

"Ry!" Sirius complained but Harry only looked over at him with his big green eyes.

"Yes, Siri?" He asked as he, for a third time, placed the candy under his nose. Not hesitating, Sirius grabbed everything he could from the small hand and brought it close to his chest. Harry stared at his now-empty hand and looked up to gaze at Sirius with his faux-innocent eyes. "You could have asked, you know."

* * *

The first day of September came quickly and with it brought all chaos associated with the Hogwarts Express. The remainder of the summer was spent with their own families as Sirius was forced into lessons concerning his heirship by his father. Harry and James left with their family to a vacation in Rome, where the first wizarding settlement was achieved.

So it was with roaming eyes that the four friends entered the station separately to reunite. Goodbyes were brief or (in the case of one Sirius Orion Black) nonexistent. At different times, the boys raced onto the large red train and to the compartment they had claimed as their own.

Sirius was the first to get there after separating from his brother, who was a firstie that year. He sat on one of the seats before moving to look out the windows. When he failed to find any of the others in the crowd he sat down again and bounced his foot restlessly. After a few more seconds, he shot up again and looked harder.

That was how Remus found him a few minutes later. He knocked on the compartment door just as Sirius sulked back from the window after not spotting any of the other three marauders. He looked up at the tawny-haired boy when he slid the door open and a wide smile crossed his face.

"Moony!" He yelled out and Remus smiled a bit tiredly. Sirius made a conscious effort to turn his volume down a few notches and then tried again. "Moony! How have you been?"

"Pretty well, and you?" He said in response as he joined the Black heir who was, once again, by the window. "Do you see them?"

"No," Sirius said miserably. "I've been okay. The lessons this summer though were torture." Remus sent over a pitying smile but Sirius' eyes hadn't stopped flickering between families on the ground.

"Yes, but at least you'll be a good lord one day, right?"

"I guess so, but I don't think I really want to- OH! There they are! JAMES! HARRY!"

Remus startled back at the sudden volume Sirius was yelling at and clasped his hands over his ears. It would be nice to have the twins in there with them because even though Sirius was absolutely wonderful, it was only really Harry who always remembered that his senses were heightened and his cravings (especially for chocolate) were stronger than others felt.

It was but a few moments until the twins were entering the compartment, complete with James and Sirius embracing like long lost lovers. Remus and Harry met each other's gaze and they rolled their eyes in synchronization. That made everyone laugh because even though some time had passed and problems arose, absolutely nothing between their dynamic had changed.

The friends settled down and sat when the train let out a loud 'hoot' and began to move. There was some waving towards relatives, mostly on the twins' part, but then it was only them in a small space with several hours to kill.

They spoke of meaningless topics for several minutes but it wasn't hard to figure out that Sirius was holding something back. He was twitching and his eyes often darted over to his carry-on bag only to snap away from it. It didn't take long until James was fed up and he poked Sirius insistently in the shoulder.

"What?" Sirius asked, prying his eyes away from the bag yet again.

"What's in the bag?" James asked simply and Sirius startled in surprise. He opened his mouth, Harry wasn't sure whether it was to try at denial or something else, but then he shut it and turned towards Remus.

"Do you know any sort of secrecy spell or something so we know no one is listening in?" Remus frowned lightly.

"A silencing spell on the compartment door?" He offered and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, do that. Please," he added on when Harry kicked him with his foot. Remus did so efficiently and the twins and werewolf, as one, looked directly at Sirius.

He didn't stall any longer. He tugged his bag over to him and drew it open. They watched as he extracted a thin book from the cloth and carelessly dropped the bag back onto the floor. It was obvious that this was a serious matter because usually he would be a lot more dramatic and would shield the book title and make them guess what it was. Instead, he flipped the book over so everyone could read the front cover.

**How to Successfully Achieve the Animagus Transformation in Three Years or Less**

The three friends stared at it in shock. Harry wasn't sure why he was he surprised, but figured it had something to do with them actually having a book. He didn't know they had one the first time! It was written by a Black so he figured it was found in the ancient Black library by Sirius one of the last days of summer.

"Siri…" James began but couldn't find the words. Harry helped to supply them.

"This is incredible!" He cried out. "This means we can get started right away! Oh, Remus! We could be helping you by fifth year!"

But Sirius stopped him there. "Not so fast, Ry. I've read the first few chapters; we need to begin by months of meditation before bed and in free time and we need a potion." Harry deflated a little.

"Which potion?" He asked. He didn't recall older Sirius telling him about this.

"One that will show us our form. If we didn't take the potion, we wouldn't have an end goal in sight because we wouldn't know what we were supposed to be changing into." It surprised Harry and James, too, to see Sirius so… _serious_ over a matter. Remus was completely shocked. Harry doubted he had so much as breathed since he had read the book title.

"Well, where can we get it?" James asked but Sirius shook his head.

"I've heard father talk to so many people over the years and he and mother have been drilling me in potions for a while. In all that time, I have _never_ heard them mention this one. I don't know if it has an actual name, but _he_" Sirius motioned vaguely to the book, "just calls it the 'Animagus Potion'. I'm pretty sure it's not sold anywhere-"

"But does it have instructions?" Harry asked eagerly, not caring that he cut Sirius off. He was unbelievably excited and if he had any doubts before, not that he did, they would be long gone at this point.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, but we're going to need some ingredients we don't have. I'm sure the potions shop in Hogsmeade has what we need, but there is no way of getting there without anyone noticing."

James nodded in agreement. "Students aren't allowed into Hogsmeade until their third year," he chimed in and Harry was watching both of them with an unhinged jaw. They were choosing _now_ (of all times!) to choose to listen to and follow the rules?

"Who bloody- I don't- since when have you-" Harry simply could not form words for what he was feeling. "_We have the cloak!_" He exclaimed finally. "We could just walk out in the bright daylight and no one would ever know! And if you didn't want to do that, I'm nearly positive there is a passageway somewhere in the school that would lead us outside. _For Merlin's sake_, are you guys giving up already?"

They were saved from having to reply when Remus took in a gasping breath. Harry looked at him in surprise before moving to make sure he was alright. He hadn't _actually_ thought Remus had stopped breathing! Harry rubbed his back comfortingly and looked back to his twin and their friend.

Sirius had raised an eyebrow sometime from when he began his rant to when he bent down to help Remus; when exactly, Harry could not say. "I don't recall ever claiming defeat," Sirius informed him. "I only said we couldn't get there. But you _do_ realize owl-order is a thing, right?"

And so that night, after the sorting (where Regulus Black was placed into Slytherin, to the surprise of exactly no one) and the grand feast, James called out for Nuntius and they watched as he flew in the dormitory window with a 'hoot!'

James slipped a few knuts into the bronze coin carried strapped on his foot. "Could you get an owl-order catalogue from Politerra's Potions and Supplies please, boy?" The owl was off in an instant and the boys turned to Sirius. He was, after all, the one with the book so they were looking at him for guidance.

"Can we do anything without the potion?" Harry asked and Sirius looked down at the book in his arms.

"Meditation. We're apparently supposed to be able to center ourselves – whatever _that_ means." Sirius snorted and Harry was relieved he seemed to be much like himself at the moment. The train ride held many deep conversations and it was strange for the green-eyed boy to see Sirius be so calm and devoted to a matter.

"Does anyone actually know how to meditate?" James asked with a laugh. From the corner of his eye, Harry saw as Remus hesitantly raise his hand in the air.

"I, uh, I do." They all looked at him in surprise but Harry shook it off quickly.

"Will you be doing the transformation too, Remus?" He knew the first time he didn't, but maybe this time…

That thought was quickly dashed with the refusal of the werewolf. "I don't think I _can_," he explained quickly when Sirius looked to be about to speak. "With… y'know, with Moony I don't think I could turn into anything else." Harry bit his lip and watched as James sat next to Remus.

"What else?" The older twin asked and Remus' head shot up.

"What?"

"There's more; what else are you worried about?" Remus sighed and threw his head back roughly.

"If I could, well it's just that it would probably be a wolf and I'm already a wolf once a month and I don't think I could possibly handle being able to be a wolf all of the time, and what if it was the same wolf? What if it was Moony and I lost control when I tried to change I'm just so worried-"

The boys quickly surrounded Remus and hushed him when he began to panic and ramble. They hadn't ever seen him lose his calm before so it was a very enlightening experience. They hadn't realized just how effected by his curse he was and how it ate away at his calm.

"So, Professor Lupin," Harry began in an effort to distract him and _whoa wasn't that weird to hear after all this time? _"How does one meditate?"

Remus cleaned himself up quickly after that. In little time at all everyone was back in their positions and Remus was explaining how you needed to be absolutely still and let no sounds draw your attention. They were all about to try that when the dormitory door opened and a body slid through.

"Hello, Peter," Remus welcomed warmly and James gave him a vague wave, too busy turning and searching his trunk for something to really acknowledge the other's presence. Even Sirius smiled a little, which convinced Harry that he couldn't ignore him because at that point it would be rude. So he too smiled and gave a little wave before focusing in on his brother. _Not a rat yet, Harry_, he reminded himself sternly, _just a young boy with a desire for friendship._

"Hello, what are you all doing?" He asked as he moved to his own trunk.

"Meditating," James answered as he pulled out some sleeping clothes. Sirius kicked him roughly in the shin and James jerked. Harry noticed he had made quite the pile of cloth in his searching. Peter looked up and stared off in confusion.

"Why?"

"Jamsie-boy decided to give Buddhism a try," Sirius explained smoothly. Harry snorted lightly but tried to cover it with a cough. He was unsuccessful.

Peter shook his head. "It's another one of your secrets things, I get it. I'm gonna go get changed and then go to bed, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Peter!" Sirius yelled at his retreating back. "I'll make sure James doesn't hum too loudly while meditating!"

Harry bit his lip and met eyes with Remus, whose face was bright. "We'd best be getting off to bed as well," Harry sighed. "We can try in our separate beds tonight and talk tomorrow morning." The others agreed and they got ready for silence then sleep.

* * *

The next day dawned dreary and Harry was awoken by the usual soft _pat, pat, pat, _of Remus walking across the cold stone floor. Harry sat up, not remembering when he stopped meditating and fell into sleep the night before.

_Did I even meditate at all?_ He wondered to himself before shaking the thought away and moving to get ready for the day. He entered the bathroom as Remus was finishing and moved to take a quick shower. Afterwards he got dressed and left the bathroom.

He didn't wake up James too harshly, choosing to merely dump the pile of clothes he pulled from his trunk the night before over his head. James startled slightly and gave Harry a light glare, though the latter noticed he seemed more awake than he usually did in the mornings.

"Wakey, wakey!" Harry called out, only to have his voice muffled by a pillow to the face. Harry frowned over at Sirius, who Remus had awakened after getting Peter up and moving.

"Okay, rude," Harry said to Sirius, who deadpanned him with red-dried eyes. "I didn't even wake you up! Why are you glaring at _me_? Shouldn't it be Remus getting your looks?"

"Maybe," Sirius grumbled as he shuffled from his bed. "But I like Moony better than you anyway." Harry stared at him and then at the bathroom door after he closed it behind him.

"Yes, but doesn't everyone?"


End file.
